The Mission
by silver sniper of night
Summary: Sequel to "The Inspection". Maes has one last mission concerning Roy and Riza. Will he succeed? Or will it all end in disaster? Royai.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to everyone who supported "The Inspection" in any way, shape or form. **

**This is the second part of a series, if you haven't read "The Inspection", it's probably best you do that before proceeding with this. **

**Disclaimer: FMA is not mine. **

**Chapter 1**

Cute was not a word that was normally present in Roy Mustang's vocabulary. As a word he hated it, seeing as it was rarely accurate and continuously conjured images of fluffy wide eyed animals that he personally found rather sickening. Plus it was a word that many of the brainless airheads he used to date used, which would naturally put anyone off the word. But this morning, it was only word that could be used in the circumstance, even thought he would never admit it out loud. No, the strong flame alchemist Roy Mustang would never taint his reputation by uttering the word cute. The fact that it was being used to describe the best sharpshooter in the Amestresian military was also a deterrent. But the sight of seeing his lover Riza Hawkeye curled up around her dog fast asleep and sucking her thumb could only be described with one word. Roy grinned to himself as he fumbled around in the kitchen. Yep, his girlfriend was defiantly so cute.

"Morning." A sleepy voice addressed him from behind. He turned and smiled at Riza as she yawned and stretched. Standing there in her light blue pyjamas with her hair all messed up from sleeping she had turned from being cute into being stunningly beautiful in less than a minute. He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her, cuddling her close.

"Morning beautiful." He said with a smile. She laughed and wacked him on the chest.

"Shameless flatterer." She muttered without letting go.

"Nope simply stating the obvious. What do you want for breakfast?" He asked kissing the top of her head.

"More sleep." She mumbled, stifling a yawn as she did so. He pulled away from her to gaze into her eyes. He pushed her bangs put of her face before asking

"Are you feeling okay?" She smiled at his concern and leaned in and kissed him lightly.

"Yes I'm just tired." She replied, turning away to walk back towards her bedroom. Before she had even taken two steps, Roy had his arms around her once more. Slowly he began to kiss down the length of her neck, causing Riza to sigh with pleasure. Roy smirked at the reaction he had created.

"You know what I want for breakfast?" he whispered in her ear. Riza laughed and smacked him on the upside of the head. He whimpered and dropped his head onto her shoulder.

"We will be late for work." She stated, attempting to struggle out of his hold.

"Late but happy." He whined piteously, causing Riza to roll her eyes.

"Honestly Roy, did you not get enough last night?" She snapped, getting slightly annoyed with this conversation. Roy however didn't seem to realise what her tone meant.

"I can never get enough of you." He mumbled into her shoulder. Riza sighed, feeling slightly annoyed that the line made her want to give in to him. But they really were going to be late for work already. Finally managing to disentangle herself from Roy she kissed him quickly and retreated into her room to dress. Roy watched her go, not even bothering to keep the smile off of his face. He turned around and begin to make coffee, seeing as there was little time to make anything substantial for breakfast. He gazed out of the window while waiting for the kettle to boil. He loved mornings. Roy almost laughed at himself as the thought popped into his mind. If someone had even suggested that to him four months ago he would have laughed in their face, seeing as on his worst days he was lucky if he made it into the office before twelve. Roy liked his sleep, so sleep and mornings did not go well together. However, there was something about opening his eyes and seeing the woman he loved asleep next to him that made them somewhat more appealing. He smiled as he felt a sudden pressure against his back. Being so lost in his thoughts he hadn't noticed Riza who had already dressed and was now leaning against his back.

"Go get ready." She stated, her voice muffled. Roy tuned around, took her in his arms and countered

"And why should I?" Riza raised an eyebrow before glancing at the clock on the kitchen wall.

"Because in almost an hour you have a meeting with Edward." She commented dryly. Roy groaned loudly. What had he been saying about loving mornings?

* * *

"So explain to me again why we are here?" Edward Elric looked across to the suit of armour that was walking next to him. Alphonse sighed. This was going to be a long day.

"You know why brother. You are under the Colonel's jurisdiction; therefore whenever he asks for your help, you have to obey." Incoherent mutterings could be heard from the blonde alchemist. Alphonse wasn't sure exactly what he was saying but distinctly heard the words "dog" and "bastard". Alphonse sighed once more. This was _definitely_ going to be a long day.

* * *

Roy sighed and leaned back further in his chair. Aside from the meeting with the Fullmetal Alchemist, there was little for him to do this morning, which he wasn't going to start complaining about. He was just about to attempt to adjust his chair to the perfect angle so that he could reach his paperwork, see out of his office door without craning his neck and still be perfectly relaxed when he was interrupted by the phone ringing.

"Mustang here" he said, picking up the receiver.

"Roy! Thank god I caught you. Ed's not there yet is he?" Said the voice at the other end of the line.

"No Maes, you caught me in time, what wrong?" Roy stated, hearing the urgent tone in his voice.

"Two things actually. The first being that I've received some new intelligence concerning the serial killer that's attacking women." Roy cringed as he heard the statement. However, Hughes continued speaking

"I've given the work to Havoc, he should be brining it over to you now. I Just decided to warn you as the as these files are rather...gruesome, to say the least." A knock at the door drew Mustang's attention and he looked up to see Havoc in the doorway, a stack of folder's in his arms. Mustang motioned his Second Lieutenant into the room as he continued his conversation with Maes.

"Thanks Hughes. Now, what was the other thing you wanted to talk to me about?" Roy added, picking up his coffee cup and taking a sip.

"Oh, yes, down to business. When are you going to propose to Riza?" Roy's throat convulsed in shock, causing him to spit out his coffee over his newly cleaned desk, leaving him to simply gag as he struggled to breathe. Havoc stared at his superior, not really sure what to do. But as Mustang's face turned a violent shade of red, he made a quick decision and strode over to his commanding officer and begun pounding him hard on the back until Mustang was able to breathe once more. Havoc rushed out of the office having received a glare from Roy, before the Colonel picked up the phone once more. Hughes was still speaking.

"...Because really it is high time to get yourself a wife and considering how Riza seems to be the only woman...well only _person_ who is ever able to keep you in line it's naturally the best...

"HUGHES!" Roy yelled down the receiver, thumping his fist down on the desk as he did so. He lowered his tone slightly before continuing.

"I've only been dating Riza for three months. What kind of person proposes to his girlfriend after three months?" Hughes laughed at Roy's remark.

"Roy, considering your history with women, it's a miracle you managed to stay with one woman for a month, let alone three! For you three months is the equivalent of about five years for a normal person." A vein in Roy temple started to twitch at this statement. Why did Maes assume that just because he was married that the rest of the population had to do so to be happy?

"Hmmm..." Hughes stated, bringing Roy back to reality. He didn't like the tone of voice his best friend had adopted.

"What?" Roy asked suspiciously.

"Well, considering I just asked you when you are going to marry your girlfriend and the only thing you came up with was that you have only been with her for three months, when most men would have already run screaming at the thought of such a serious step...

"Hughes..." Roy warned, not liking where this conversation was going. However, his friend pretended he hadn't heard.

"Adding to the fact that this is you we are talking about whom, up until Riza of course, had a longer relationship with a jar of coffee than a woman...

"Hughes..." Roy said once more, a bit louder this time, but his protest went unnoticed.

"One could only imagine that you have at least thought about the idea, which means that you Roy Mustang are seriously thinking about throwing in the towel and making a COMMIT..." Roy slammed down the phone before Hughes could even finish his sentence.

"Colonel, please don't take it out on the phone. I don't want to have to write another report on accidental damages to office equipment." Roy looked up and smiled as Riza walked into the room, saluting as perfectly as always. He waved off the gesture and she walked into the room. Noticing the pile of folders on his desk she turned to him and asked

"Are those the recent reports on the serial killer Sir?" Mustang nodded in reply. Riza reached out towards the folders, but before she could pick one up and open it, Roy slammed his hand down on top of them. Riza stared up at him in amazement.

"Sir?" She questioned in shock.

"Don't look at them." Roy replied sternly. Riza frowned, still completely confused.

"Why not Sir? If we are going after this killer its imperative we have all of the information." Hughes' words were still ringing in Mustang's head. He didn't want her to have to look at these files.

"I know that, but it's better if you don't see them" he stated, attempting to keep the situation light. Riza's look of confusion was swiftly replaced with a frown

"Why can't _I _see them Sir?" She stated her tone icy. Mustang looked down, unable to meet her eyes. He knew that she was angry now, but he wasn't going to back down easily.

"This material is not for your eyes Lieutenant, that's all. Now is there anything else you wanted?" Riza stood muted for a moment, unable to process what was happening. _How dare he! _Her mind screamed in rage. _Why am I suddenly being treated as if I'm fragile? I've seen worse than a few pictures of corpses before, he knows this! _While she was angry at the way he was treating her, she was also hurt. She had always been perceived as inferior in the military just because she was female, yet she found that under Mustang's command that wasn't a problem. She was equal to all of her fellow subordinates.

"No Sir." She commented quietly before swiftly leaving the room, not trusting herself to look him in the eyes. Roy watched her go before he sat back down heavily in his chair. He hadn't missed the hurt that was laced into her last statement. He didn't understand though. He was just trying to protect her, in the same way that she always protected him. He sighed heavily. He really _really _hated mornings.

**A/N: what do you think? Let me know in a review! **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed this so far! Also thank you to those who reviewed the final chapter of "The Inspection". I'm glad you are enjoying this and I hope all who are reading enjoy the second chapter. **

**Chapter 2**

Riza walked calmly out of the office, or at least that was how it would appear to a casual observer. However beneath her cool exterior, she was seething. She couldn't remember the last time someone had made her so angry. It was times like these when it really hit her that the fraternisation laws were created for a reason. Emotions tended to get in the way of rational thinking, but she had been sure that the two of them were perfectly capable of keeping their profession and romantic lives separate. Obviously she had been wrong.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye." She turned and saluted as Hughes ran towards her. He ignored the gesture and continued to speak

"Did Roy get the files on the serial killer that I sent to your offices?" he asked.

"Yes Sir" came the response. Hughes frowned, sensing something was amiss from the way she spoke. He decided that there was most likely only one cause for her hostile attitude.

"What did he do now?" Hughes groaned. Riza looked back at the Lieutenant Colonel, slightly unnerved at his uncanny ability to read people.

"It's nothing Sir, at least nothing that should be discussed right now." She replied and with that she saluted and continued to make her way down the corridor. Hughes grimaced as he watched her go. _Do I have to sort out everything between those two? _He thought to himself.

* * *

"And not only did the town have nothing, _nothing_ that could help us, but the train got held up on the way back so that we were stuck in the middle of nowhere for almost a week, which is completely YOUR FAULT!"

"Brother, that was just bad luck; the Colonel had nothing to do with it." Alphonse whispered as Edward finished his ten minute rant. At the comment Edward's face darkened.

"There is no such thing as bad luck where he's concerned." He replied, jabbing his thumb in Mustang's direction. Roy smirked.

"While you seem to believe that I exist solely to sabotage all your plans Fullmetal, I'm afraid I have more important things to do than that. You are simply one small part of a much greater pic..." before Roy could continue, two things happened. Edward's face turned a violent shade of red and Alphonse had to latch on to him in order to prevent him from leaping across the desk towards the Colonel. Simultaneously the door flew open.

"Lieutenant Colonel!" Alphonse exclaimed brightly while still holding a squirming Edward.

"Hughes, can't you see I'm in the middle of a meeting?" Mustang asked, although he wasn't really that bothered about the interruption. Hughes smiled down at the two young alchemists.

"Hey Ed, Al, how are you guys doing?" Deciding that Edward was probably not going to pounce on anyone, Alphonse let go of his younger brother before replying.

"We're fine thank you." Hughes nodded before turning his attention back to Roy.

"What did you do this time?" He stated. Roy looked taken aback.

"I haven't done anything." He said defensively.

"Oh really? Then why is your First Lieutenant walking around as if she is going to shoot the next person who crosses her?" He stated, raising his eyebrow questioningly. Roy paled slightly at this, something that did not go unnoticed by a certain young alchemist.

"Oooh so Mustang's having girl problems now is he?" Ed asked, not even bothering to hide his glee. Mustang snapped his head towards him.

"Get out of my office Fullmetal. We'll finish this later" He snarled. Ed grinned, sufficiently happy to have annoyed his superior. He mock saluted at Mustang before walking out of the door, Alphonse shooting an apologetic glance at the adults before following his brother out. Hughes kept his gaze on Mustang for a moment before repeating his question. Roy sighed.

"I didn't want her to see the pictures of the serial killer. That's all." He muttered. Hughes blinked at him.

"That's all? That's all! Roy, are you completely stupid or did you hit your head this morning? I don't think there is anything worse you could have done." Roy sighed heavily, dropping his gaze.

"I know I insulted her but I just wanted to protect her." He muttered. Hughes took this opportunity to occupy the seat on the other side of Roy's desk.

"I don't think she would appreciate that as a good reason either. She probably thought that you were saying she was an incapable officer or something." Seeing Mustang's dismayed expression, he continued

"I know you weren't saying that, it's just probably what she made of it. She's not like all the other women you usual date Roy; she doesn't want you to stop her from seeing the bad things of the world. I'm almost certain she's seen things like those photo's before." Hughes explained gently. Roy met his friend's gaze.

"I know she doesn't need me to protect her from the world. But it doesn't stop me from wanting to anyway." He replied sadly. Hughes sighed.

"Well... there is one thing you could do to make it up to her." He began. Mustang perked up slightly at this statement.

"What?" He asked eagerly.

"You could ask her to mar..."

"Finish that sentence and you will be a pile of ashes!" Roy interrupted, raising a gloved hand menacingly. Hughes smiled widely before standing up and heading towards the door. Just before he left, he turned and looked at Roy, who had gone back to his paperwork.

"Seriously though, nothing says I love you like a diamond engagement r..." he stopped speaking and swiftly shut Mustang's office door to avoid being hit in the face with the alchemy book that Roy had flung at him. There was a resounding crash as the book hit the door then the floor.

"Is there a problem Sir?" Hughes turned to see the rest of Mustang's team, including Hawkeye staring at him. He smiled back.

"Nope, nothing Lieutenant Hawkeye, just a difference of opinion." And with that he skipped out of the room, leaving the other five soldiers to their confusion.

* * *

The morning had past incredibly slowly in Riza's opinion. She had returned with her emotions slightly more in control and had silently continued with her work. Sensing her mood, her fellow officers had basically left her alone and kept their own conversations to a minimum. Roy had stayed in his office most of the time, and when he had emerged, she had kept her eyes averted as to not let her anger get the better of her. One by one the men slowly filed off to the cafeteria for lunch. Riza was unsure what to do. Recently she had been spending her lunch hour with Roy, but she really didn't feel like doing that today. Suddenly, a pile of folders was dropped on to her desk, making her jump slightly. Riza looked up to see Roy standing over her.

"These are all the files on the serial killer." He explained his voice low. She simply gazed at them.

"I'm going to get some lunch Lieutenant." Roy stated and with that he left the room. Riza watched him leave, completely confused and slightly hurt. She didn't understand what had made him change his mind so quickly, but she was glad he had. But she was hurt that he couldn't bring himself to talk about the incident at all. She sighed and picked up the first file and began to read. She would go and get her lunch later on. She had barely got half way through the file when she heard the sound of the door being opened. She looked up and to her utter amazement Roy was back, carrying with him two sandwiches.

"I thought you were going to lunch, Sir. Why are you back?" She asked.

"We always have lunch together." Roy replied simply, putting the sandwich on her desk. She allowed a small smile to cross her lips at the gesture. There was silence for a moment.

"I'm sorry." Roy said, "I didn't mean to make you feel inadequate." Riza looked at him before replying.

"I know you didn't mean it. But you don't need to shield me Roy, I'm not helpless."

"I know you aren't, I know that better than anyone! But it doesn't stop me from wanting to protect you." He said indignantly.

"I don't need your protection Roy, it's my job to protect you, remember?" She countered, feeling her anger rising again. Roy frowned at her. He was no good at this, he needed to word this correctly or he was just going to make this situation even worse.

"Can't we just want to protect each other? I know you don't need it, I know you can defend yourself but it doesn't stop me from wanting to take care of you. We are in a relationship Riza; it's supposed to be a two way thing." Before he could say anything more Riza stood sharply.

"Then maybe I'm the wrong person for you to be with." She snapped. She instantly regretted saying it, turning away so he couldn't see the hurt in her face. She had really messed up now. She hadn't meant for it to sound like that, but her anger had gotten the better of her. She didn't need someone to take care of her; she needed someone who understood that she was able to cope on her own. She jumped slightly as she felt Roy embrace her from behind.

"Please don't say that Riza." He whispered, "I love you. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset you." Riza sighed and turned around, burying her head into his chest. This wasn't right. She knew that he didn't understand what she meant but she didn't have the energy to argue about this anymore. She sighed, suppressing her emotions and gaining control once more.

"I know. I didn't mean to say that either." She replied, her voice muffled. Roy broke away from her and gazed into her eyes. Before he could say anything further, the door burst open and Havoc ran in the room.

"Chief! Someth..." he trailed off when he noticed the positions Mustang and Hawkeye were in, his hurried look turned into a wide grin. Mustang growled slightly and let go of Riza.

"What is it Second Lieutenant?" He asked, feeling annoyed that the moment had been ruined. Havoc's grin faded and his expression turned serious.

"Edwards's just returned from town, his automail completely ruined." Mustang sighed. _Great, another mess for me to clean up_ he thought to himself.

"But that's not all." Mustang snapped out of his thoughts.

"What is it?" Riza asked, anxiety growing in her mind.

"He says he was attacked by the serial killer. And apparently he has a message for us." Havoc replied.

**A/N: Please let me know what you think with a review. **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you for all of your wonderful support so far, it encourages me to write. Please enjoy this chapter!**

**Chapter 3**

Ed stared miserably down at the shattered remains of his automail arm. This was definitely not good. He and Al were now seated in Mustang's office, having just explained their run in with the serial killer to their superior. Mustang sighed and rubbed his temples.

"So let me get this straight Fullmetal" he began, "You didn't see his face, nor can you give me an accurate description, other than he was male and slightly taller than an average man." Ed just continued to fix his attention on what had once been his arm, leaving Al to answer the question.

"We're sorry Colonel" he said soberly "But he came at us from behind, we were distracted. Brother and I managed to hit him a few times, but before we could do anything more brother's automail got damaged." Roy frowned turning his attention back to the blonde Alchemist. Before he could make any further remark, Hawkeye interrupted.

"It's alright Alphonse. You and Edward are safe that's all that matters." She said calmly, her tone warning Mustang not to antagonise the boys any further. Roy sighed once more.

"Fullmetal, you need to get that arm fixed. Call that mechanic of yours and get her to come down to central as soon as possible." Ed's head flew up at this statement.

"Bring Winry here? Can't I just go back to Risenbool?" He asked. Mustang shook his head.

"You two are the only witnesses we have of this man. You aren't going anywhere." He stated forcefully. His tone of voice only succeeded in making Edward angrier. The boy stood up in a rush, advancing on Mustang.

"You can't do that! I'm not one of your lap dogs, I can't be or..." however his sentence was cut short as with a resounding _thunk_ the ruins of what once were his index, middle and little finger clattered to the floor. There was silence for a moment as the occupants of the room simply stared at the shattered metal on the office floor.

"I'll go call Winry." Ed muttered quietly, picking up the broken digits before turning towards the door.

"Wait." Edward turned to meet Mustang's gaze.

"Havoc said the killer gave you a message. What did he tell you?" Edward hesitated, moving his gaze to floor before turning it back on to the Colonel.

"He said... he said; ask those dogs if they got my presents. Tell them I sent them three." There was silence for a moment before Mustang nodded.

"Alright. You can go now." Ed nodded opening the door and walking out, holding his metal arm in place with the other. Al said goodbye to Mustang and Hawkeye before following his brother, closing the door behind him.

"Lieutenant?" Mustang asked as soon as the door had closed.

"Yes Sir?"

"Call everyone together, including Hughes. It looks like we have a problem." Riza nodded, then saluted Roy and left the room in search of the others. She couldn't help but feel that this case was something more than it seemed.

* * *

The day was drawing to a close, and so far the investigation into the serial killer had not progressed. Mustang slammed down the last file on the case, his head pounding. Riza glanced up from her own work to look at him. She suppressed the urge to say something to him and returned her gaze to the paper's before her. She hated seeing that look in his eyes. He was suffering, taking the words of the killer as a personal challenge. It was already beginning to take its toll on him and they had barely even started.

"Havoc, Breda have you found anything?" Mustang asked, his voice strained. The two officers's glanced up, shaking their heads solemnly.

"Sorry Chief, nothing new." Havoc replied. Roy cursed under his breath before standing up and storming back into his own office, the door crashing shut after him. Hawkeye looked up once more and caught Hughes' eye. He flicked his head in the direction of Mustang's office and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Riza shot him a glare that caused him to flinch and return to the police reports spread out before him. Riza finished reading her document then stood and walked up to Roy's door. She knocked, but received no response. However, she had expected this so she simply turned the handle and walked into the room.

Roy was sitting at his desk, his chair facing away from the door, allowing him to stare morbidly out of the window. Riza didn't need to see his face to know that he was brooding. She approached the desk cautiously.

"Sir?" she ventured tentatively. Roy made no reply; he just continued to stare as if he wasn't even aware of her presence. Riza paused for a moment, unsure what to say next. It was never a good sign when Roy ignored her completely.

"What the hell is he doing?" Riza started, not expecting Roy to speak. His tone was distant, contemplative and she knew better than to interrupt his thought process.

"Three victims, all women between the ages of twenty and thirty five with no other connections between them. Then he goes after Fullmetal because of his connections to the military just to tell us he killed those women. But why damn it!" Roy turned and slammed his hands on to the desk, causing Riza to jump. He began pacing rapidly, venting his frustration as he voiced his ideas.

"He just wanted to get our attention, get us to chase him. He deliberately killed those women as a message. Their deaths could have been prevented, if we had only caught on to this sooner."

"This is not your fault Sir!" Riza interrupted sternly, attempting to drive his thoughts in a different direction.

"You couldn't have known what was going to happen Sir; you should not be blaming yours..."

"If I wanted your opinion Hawkeye, I would have asked for it." Roy snapped before turning and sitting heavily down in his chair. He dropped his head into his hands, attempting to block out the headache that was getting worse the more the thought about the case. Riza sighed, attempting to not take his words to heart. She walked over to stand behind Mustang, who was too preoccupied to notice her movements. She reached out and ran her hands through his hair, curling he strands around her finger tips. Roy sighed contentedly at the comfort he felt from her touch. He reached out and took her hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing it.

"I'm sorry" he whispered, turning around so he could look up into her eyes." She allowed herself to smile softly before reaching out with her other hand to smooth down the unruly strands of hair.

"You're giving yourself a headache." She stated matter of factly. He nodded mutely, not bothering to deny it. Riza smiled once more, then bent down and placed of soft kiss on his temple. She lowered her eyes to meet his gaze.

"Roy, you have to stop blaming yourself for things that are out of your control. We will figure this out but forcing yourself to be accountable for these death's is not going to help." She whispered kindly. Roy gazed back at her for a moment. He squeezed the hand he was still holding and then smiled.

"I don't know what I would do without you." he whispered, leaning in and kissing her. Riza smiled back but jerked upwards when the door burst open and Hughes rushed in. Roy frowned at the sudden interruption. However, the determined look in Hughes' eye stopped any reprimands that came to mind.

"What is it?" he asked as Hughes approached his desk. Maes was carrying a set of papers that he laid out on Mustang's desk.

"I found these police reports. At first I thought they looked familiar, but then when I took a closer look, I realised they weren't familiar. They were _identical_." Roy picked up the first document and began to read. His eyes widened at what he saw.

"This crime scene is virtually identical to those of the three women we found." Hughes nodded and began to explain.

"Yep. Three men spaced out over the last six months. All mutilated, killed in exactly the same way as the latest victims of the serial killer. The police never saw the connection on this one." He gestured towards the first file.

"The first victim, Roland Tanner, was part of known gang of criminals. The case was closed as an act of gang warfare." He picked up the next file.

"The second victim, Matthew Waterson, was a drug dealer. With no witnesses and no one who seemed to even acknowledge that they knew him, the police closed the case; simply stating that a fight over his stash had got completely out of hand." Hughes picked up the last file.

"However, the third was entirely different. The victim was a business man, Simon Keel. While the victim was found in the same condition as the previous two, the major difference is that a witness saw a man, dressed in dark clothes who was slightly taller than average fleeing the scene."

"The same description that Fullmetal gave us." Mustang murmured, Hughes nodding in agreement. Roy frowned then placed the file back on his desk.

"We need to talk to that witness." Hughes grinned.

"I thought you'd say that. I called in a few favours and if we're lucky we can meet him tonight." Roy nodded.

"Good work Hughes." Maes grinned and left the room. Roy sighed tiredly and rubbed the back of his head. He turned to Riza.

"Go on home Hawkeye. The other's can leave as well; you've all done enough for one evening." Seeing that she looked as if she was about to protest, he held up his hand.

"Maes and I can will continue to research and see if we can speak to the witness." He walked over to her and hugged her tightly. She drew back and stared at him critically.

"You're working too hard." She muttered. Roy laughed lightly, kissing her forehead.

"I won't work too hard, I promise. If I come round after we're done tonight, will that make you feel better?" He asked, using his most persuasive tone.

"No" Roy frowned. Why did that never work on her? Riza couldn't help but laugh at the look on his face. She drew away from his grasp and walked towards the door. Before she reached the door she turned and fixed Roy in her gaze.

"You had better get there before I fall asleep. I will not be happy if you wake me up." She replied, her tone icy but a smile in her eyes. Roy smirked as she saluted and walked out of the office.

* * *

At the sound of the bell above the door ringing, the red haired woman at reception looked up. She smiled at the familiar figure.

"Hey there Lieutenant. Here to pick up Hayate?" she asked brightly. Riza Hawkeye smiled.

"Yes, thank you Jessica." The woman nodded and disappeared in to the first room on the left. As soon as she had gone, the door on the opposite side of the room opened and a dark haired man walked out, bringing with him a large cardboard box. He smiled when he noticed Riza.

"Good evening Lieutenant. Rough day?" Riza laughed.

"I could ask the same of you Adrian." She stated. Adrian pulled a face.

"I had two cats throw up on me today. Need I say more?" Riza laughed once more, then turned her attention towards the door as she heard the familiar sound of barking. Hayate bounded up to Riza, nuzzling her hand frantically. She smiled and attached his lead.

"Thank you. I'll drop him by at the same time tomorrow." She said. Jessica nodded

"See you then" Riza smiled and walked out of the kennels and started down the street. Her thoughts were preoccupied as she began the short walk back to her apartment. Roy was worrying her. He was putting all his energy into finding this killer, especially now that he had attacked one of their own, even if it was Edward. When Roy became completely focused on something, everything else began to pale in comparison, including his own well being. Any setbacks in the case were a personal blow to him and his pride, often leaving him to drown his sorrows at the bottom of a glass. She sighed as she pulled the keys out of her bag and unlocked the door. She secretly hoped that he would turn to her if he felt like that in this instance, but so far that seemed unlikely. Then again, she could understand why he didn't. She could protect him from any aggressor who dared to cross her, but dealing with emotions was not her strong point. She could barely handle her own, let alone someone else's. She would try, but she was afraid she would fail to help him. And that scared her more than she cared to admit. She sighed and flopped on to the couch, black Hayate jumping up and sitting next to her. She stroked his fur absently.

"Well. All I can do now is wait." She muttered to herself.

* * *

The telephone rang shrilly through the small house. A blonde haired girl looked up from her work bench and dragged herself across the room to pick up the receiver. Her eyes widened as she recognised the voice on the other end.

Pinako Rockbell glanced upwards as the sound of frantic movements caught her ears. She frowned.

"What is that girl up to now?" She muttered, lighting the pipe that was already placed in her mouth. She didn't have to wait long for an answer. A few minutes later, Winry rushed down the stairs, a large bag on each shoulder. The girl's normally clear blue eyes were almost black with rage. Pinako raised an eyebrow at her granddaughter's appearance.

"Where are you going child?" she asked, as Winry made her way towards the front door. She stopped just before she reached it.

"Central." She stated before pulling the door open and stalking out of the house. The door slammed shut behind her. Pinako sighed and settled back down in her chair, a faint smile crossing her lips.

"What have those boys been up to?" she wondered aloud.

* * *

A sudden noise startled Riza wake. She stared blearily round at her surroundings. She groaned as she realised that she had fallen asleep in the sitting room on the couch. She gazed around until her eyes found the clock. It was past midnight. She growled and sat up, making her way towards the front door, throwing it open.

"What time do you cal..." She trailed off and stared outside in disbelief. There was nobody there. She frowned. She could have sworn that a knock at the door had forced her awake.

"Must be hearing things" she muttered, starting to turn around. It was then out of the corner of her eye she spotted something. Riza's eyes widened and she bent down to the ground and retrieved the object. It was a rose. A pure white rose with a blue ribbon tied around it. There was no note, no card to tell who it had come from. Slowly Riza reached out and picked it up. She shivered as a gust of wind whipped round her. Quickly she turned and shut the door behind her. She stared at the flower in her hand.

"It must be from Roy. It's a bit of a strange apology though" she muttered to herself. She jumped as the phone rang. Cursing herself for her own nerves she walked over to the phone and answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey Riza it's me. I didn't wake you did I?" Roy's voice sounded anxious. She sighed.

"No, its fine, I was already awake."

"Listen I'm really sorry. Hughes and I just finished speaking to the witness and..."

"Wait" she interrupted "You've only just finished? You mean you haven't been to my apartment?" She attempted to keep the nervous edge out of her voice.

"No, I haven't been to yours. Riza, did something happen?" Riza was barely listening now. She stared at the rose in her hand. What was going on?

"Riza? Riza are you there? What's wrong?" Roy sounded worried now.

"Nothing. I need to go now." She stated, unable to stop her voice from shaking. Roy seemed to hear her change in tone.

"Riza, don't lie to me I can tell something's wrong what's happened? Riza, talk to me damn it!"

"I need to go. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Riza, no wait, ple..." she put the receiver back on the cradle, cutting him off mid sentence. Her hands shook as she held the rose in front of her. She didn't know why this scared her so much. It was just a flower. But someone had knocked on her door and placed it there making sure that she would find it. She dropped it on the floor and made her way quickly to her bedroom, sliding into bed and curling the blankets around herself in comfort. She knew she would not be able to sleep tonight.

**A/N: Please review, I'd like to know what you think. **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Wow, thank you so so much for all of your lovely reviews! I'm really glad you are all having as much fun reading this as I am writing it. **

**Chapter 4**

Riza started awake with the shrill ring of the alarm clock cutting through her disturbed dreams. She grimaced at the piercing noise, slamming her hand down on the top of the clock, the sound ceasing abruptly. She automatically flopped back down on the bed, barely able to keep her eyes open. She had spent the night on edge, pointing her gun at shadows and jumping at unexpected sounds. When she had finally managed to convince herself that it was safe for her to sleep, it had been almost six thirty in the morning. She forced herself to sit up and struggled into the bathroom. She groaned as she caught sight of her appearance in the bathroom mirror. Her face was far paler than usual and dark circles hung round her eyes. It was blatantly obvious that she had hardly slept. She sighed and turned on the shower, hoping that the cold water would improve her condition, or at least make her more alert. She sighed contentedly as the water hit her skin, feeling a small part of the fear of the night before seeping away.

* * *

Edward didn't understand it. He was the youngest state alchemist in the history of Amestris, had faced countless enemies, both human and non human and even single handily removed the corrupt leader of an entire city. So why did the fact the girl sitting across from him was holding a rather large wrench scare him more than all those things put together? Sensing his eyes on her, Winry looked up and shot Edward a glare, causing him to hastily stare down at the floor.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" she asked her tone icy. Ed sighed. He knew if he told Winry the truth she would only worry. He didn't want to burden her like that.

"Edward!" His head shot up and he met her eyes. He sighed.

"It was just an accident." He muttered. Winry frowned angrily down at him for a moment. She sighed and dropped into the seat next to him, picking up the new arm she had for him. She began using the wrench to tighten the connections as she spoke.

"An accident. An accident that caused you not just to dent your arm, but to damage it so that it is completely beyond repair. On top of that, for some reason that you can't tell me, you're not allowed to come back home, so I have to travel down here and you expect me to just except that this was all because of an accident!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry." Ed mumbled, not able to meet her eyes. Winry gazed at him silently for a moment before turning her attention back to the automail on her lap. She sighed.

"Well, let's give you back your arm then." She replied heavily, burying her anxieties in her work once more.

* * *

Riza breathed in the cold air as she left her apartment, Black Hayate at her heels. She was hoping that the fresh air would heighten her senses slightly, but so far it wasn't working. She was dreading work this morning. With her ability to concentrate severely impaired, she would be of little help to the investigation. On top of that, after hanging up on Roy last night, he was bound to be angry with her already. She sighed internally as she opened the door to the kennels. Adrian looked up from behind reception, but frowned at her appearance.

"Are you alright Lieutenant? You look as if you've seen a ghost." Riza attempted to smile as she handed black Hayate over to him.

"I'm fine. I just didn't sleep well that's all." She stated flatly. Adrian grinned at the dog in his arms.

"Hey there Hayate." He turned his attention back to Hawkeye, his face becoming serious.

"I think you need to look after yourself more, they're working you too hard if you can't even sleep well. I'm surprised that boyfriend of yours doesn't give you more time off." Riza couldn't help but smirk at the comment.

"If he gave me time off he'd have a hell of a lot of paperwork to fill out. Even I'm not worth that." He laughed and bid her a good day as she left the kennels. Her smile disappeared as soon as she walked out of the door.

"Well, I have to face this at some point." She muttered to herself as she set off towards Headquarters.

* * *

The phone had been ringing for a few minutes. Roy glared at it from his desk knowing that there was only one person who would continue to call for this long. He growled and picked up the phone.

"What!" he barked. There was silence for a moment then

"Well that's a lovely greeting. What if I had been the Fuhrer?" Roy was seconds away from banging his head on the desk.

"The Fuhrer would not have continued to call for this long, only you keep calling until I pick up Maes!" Roy was practically shouting down the phone.

"What's wrong?" Roy's anger faded slightly at the concerned tone in his friend's voice. There was no point trying to hide anything from Maes, he always seemed to be able to tell when there was something amiss. Roy slumped heavily in his chair, raising a hand to his head.

"It's Hawkeye isn't it? Did you do something wrong again?" Silence was the only response he gained. Maes sighed and pondered on the matter for a moment.

"Did you start going on about protecting her again? Didn't you learn your lesson from the last time?" Roy made no reply. Maes frowned. This seemed serious.

"Roy... what's happened?" he asked. "You didn't take her guns did you? Because I thought even you would remember what happened to Havoc." Roy made a noise as if he was about to speak when.

"She's pregnant isn't she?" Maes squeaked. Roy fell of his chair in horror. Groping around for the phone he grasped the receiver and yelled.

"No Maes she isn't! It's nothing like that."

"Well that's a shame; you would have _had _to have married her then!" Roy tore at his own hair at the statement.

"Why are you so fixated on that?" Roy moaned. Hughes laughed at his friend's tone of voice.

"Because I know it will make you happy."He said, if it was the simplest thing in the world. Roy paused for a second. Would it make him happy? He loved Riza, more than he ever thought he could love anyone. He couldn't and more importantly didn't want to imagine his life without her in it. But the thought of marriage filled him with an unexplainable terror that he couldn't shift. His thoughts were interrupted by Hughes speaking.

"Listen Roy, I'm coming in now so there is no point in talking on the phone anymore. Just try not to make the situation any worse until I get there okay? See ya!" and without even waiting for a response Hughes put the phone down. He sighed to himself. _When are they going to learn? _He thought sadly as he turned around.

"Bah!" he yelled falling to the floor as he instantly came face to face with Gracia. She gave him a questioning look. He smiled innocently up at her and jumped back on to his feet.

"Sorry honey, didn't expect to see you there." He stated. Gracia frowned at him.

"Are you poking your nose into Roy and Riza's relationship again?" she asked, folding her arms. Maes gave her them most innocent look he could muster.

"I'm not poking my nose in, I'm helping, there's a big difference." Gracia raised an eyebrow but stayed silence. Hughes pouted at her expression.

"But it's because of me that the two of them are together in the first place! At this rate they are going to drive each other crazy, argue, probably kill each other and destroy the office and half of Amestris in the process and then they will never get married and where will we be!" He cried, frantically waving his arms in the air. Gracia sighed and looked at her husband.

"Just don't push them too hard Maes. The two of them took so long to realise how happy they can make each other, I don't want to see what will happen if something goes wrong." And with that she kissed her husband and walked back into the kitchen. Maes frowned.

"With me here to help, there is no way that _anything_ could go wrong!" he stated determinedly.

* * *

Riza stepped into the office, surprised to see that she was the last one to arrive. She walked over to her desk, a stack of paper work and a large cup of coffee in her hands. She sat down heavily, taking a large sip of her drink before proceeding with the day's work.

"Late night?" She glanced up to catch Havoc looking in her direction. She quickly turned her attention back to the papers on her desk.

"Not at all, why would you think that?" she stated calmly, attempting to keep her voice light.

"Because you hate coffee. You always used to say that a caffeine rush is an artificial stimulation, therefore doesn't improve concentration and shouldn't be used to do so. Yet here you are on what I can only assume is not your first cup of the day. How much sleep did you even get? By the way you look I would have said one, maybe two hours max..."

"Lieutenant, I'm almost certain you have work to do." Riza cut in, sending Havoc a threatening glare. He held up his hands in surrender and turned away, walking back to his own desk. Riza looked back down at her own work, but she could no longer concentrate. If Havoc had been able to tell that something was wrong with her, there was no doubt that Roy would notice. She glanced up in the direction of the closed door of her superior's office. She shouldn't have hung up on him last night. He was already stressing himself out with this case, he didn't need her and her anxieties making him feel worse. Besides, it was only a flower. Someone had probably left it there by accident, getting the address of the apartment wrong. She had overreacted, that was all.

"I'm jealous." Riza looked up and frowned at the odd comment.

"Of what?" Maria Ross smiled down at her friend.

"You. You and you're perfect love life. It's just not fair." The brunette said with a dramatic sigh. Riza snorted.

"Please don't tell me you're jealous of me and Roy. Believe me, there is not much to be jealous of." She said, a small smile pulling at her lips. Maria grinned.

"Hell, I'd be jealous of anyone who gets these from their man." And with that she produced six long stemmed white roses, fastened together with a blue satin ribbon. Riza's eyes widened in shock.

"Where... where did you get these." She whispered.

"They were at the front desk with your name on them. I needed to come up here so I thought I would bring them to you. The Colonel really does like to spoil you doesn't he?" she said with a laugh. Riza stood slowly, almost backing away from the flowers. Maria frowned at her friend's odd reaction.

"Riza, are you okay?" she asked cautiously. Riza swallowed, now aware that everyone in the room was looking at her. She opened her mouth to speak when the door to her superior's office was thrown open. Mustang strolled out but stopped when he saw the scene in front of him. He gave Lieutenant Ross and odd look, considering she was saluting with one hand and still holding the roses with the other.

"Nice flower's Ross. White roses are rather expensive I believe." He commented idly. Maria looked back at him in confusion.

"These aren't my flower's Sir. They're Lieutenant Hawkeye's." Riza widened her eyes at Maria's statement, cursing her friend for speaking without thinking. Her heart tore at the look in Roy's eyes as he turned to look at her.

"Really Lieutenant?" he asked, his tone quiet, hurt laced into his voice. Her eyes widened at the connection he was making. First the hasty phone conversation the night before, including the fact that she had already been awake when he called. Now the flowers arriving at her desk...she wasn't sure whether to be dismayed or annoyed at the way Roy's thought process worked.

"Hawkeye, I want to see you in my office. Now." He stated turning his back on the room and stalking once more into his office. Riza pulled herself together and slipped her impassive mask back on. She turned and walked towards Roy's office far more calmly than she felt inside. As she passed Maria, her friend gave her a questioning look and mouthed the word "sorry" at her. Riza gave her a small smile, but said nothing.

Roy was facing away from the door as Riza entered the room. She closed the door firmly behind her, feeling that her subordinates had seen more than enough for one morning. As soon as the door was closed Roy turned to face her, a mixture of anger and hurt in his eyes.

"Care to explain to me Riza?" he asked bitterly. Riza bit her lip and gazed at the floor. She didn't know how to explain this. She wanted to tell him the truth, but what was she meant to say? Even as she ran the words through her head she knew it sounded ridiculous. Someone was sending her flowers, but that's all it was, flowers. Nothing threatening, nothing to be frightened of. But there was something about the whole situation that unnerved her.

"Hawkeye!" She snapped back to reality with Roy's shout of her name. She frowned but attempted to keep her composure. She didn't want this to turn into another disagreement. There had been too many of them recently.

"Sorry. I don't know anything about the flowers. Lieutenant Ross picked them up from reception thinking they were mine. She must have assumed wrong, I don't know anyone who would send me flowers." She stated calmly, thinking this would be the end of the conversation. She was wrong.

"Is that supposed to be some sort of hint?" Riza had lost this now.

"What are you talking about?" she replied. Roy folded his arms in front of him, anger now the only emotion displayed on his face.

"You're upset about the fact that I don't get you flowers right? Or am I supposed to buy you flowers because I didn't come round last night?" he said his tone bordering on sarcastic. Riza's jaw fell open.

"What? Why would I expect you to buy me flowers if you have never done it before?" she asked, unable to stop the tone of her voice from increasing somewhat. Roy smirked triumphantly

"Which is what you're complaining about, how I never buy you flowers..."

"But I never asked for flowers!" Riza cried, interrupting him, anger radiating from the words

"Exactly! I'm just supposed to know and buy you flowers, so in an attempt to make me want to buy you some you pulled that stunt..."

"What?" Roy stopped and looked back at Riza, raising his eyebrows at her. This only made her angrier. She was seething now. The fact that he would think that she would actually do something like that to manipulate him insulted her more than him thinking she was cheating on him. She gritted her teeth together, but managed to speak.

"So you think that I would actually buy myself flowers in order to make you buy me flowers?" she asked, keeping her voice low. Roy laughed then met her gaze once more.

"No, I didn't think that you would have done that Riza, but it isn't the first time that someone has done that to me." He stated simply. Riza didn't know whether to scream or cry. She was beyond hurt that he would compare her to the numerous air heads that he had dated before her but what had hurt her the most was that he thought she was no better than them. Ultimately, anger overrode the hurt.

"Firstly Roy Mustang, I am going to remind you that unlike those brainless sluts that you have so much fun comparing me to, I do not make a habit of attempting to manipulate people. And secondly, even if I was going to send flowers to myself I would not send roses, because as you should remember I despise that particular flower!" she remarked harshly. Roy frowned at her statement.

"I thought you liked roses." He said simply. Riza's eyes widened considerably.

"Well maybe you were confusing me with one of your other girlfriends, Sir!" She stated and before he could say anything further she turned on her heels and left the room. Roy stared after her for a moment, his mind trying to process the events of the past few minutes. He turned and without thinking he slammed his fist against the wall.

"What the hell just happened!" he hissed to himself.

* * *

Riza closed Roy's office door behind he, breathing heavily. Her fellow officers cast her a quick glance before turning back to their own work, not wanting to be caught up in an argument between their superiors. Riza walked back over to her desk and hesitated as she saw the flowers were still there. She clenched her fists slightly then reached out and picked up the arrangement and headed straight over to the rubbish bin. It was then that she noticed something white sticking out of the ribbon. She paused and gently pulled the object free of its bindings. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise when she realised it was a note card. Seeing nothing on it she turned it around. Her eyes widened and she let out a small strangled gasp as she read the untidy scrawl on the back.

_Don't you get tired of being his loyal bitch Lieutenant Hawkeye? _

**A/N: As usual please review with your thoughts!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: What wonderful reviews! Thank you so so much for all of your support, I hope that this chapter is to your liking.**

**Chapter 5**

"Hey Al, you ready to go?" the blonde alchemist asked, poking his head around the door of his brothers room. Al jumped up from his bed at the noise.

"Uh huh, yes brother, I'm ready." Edward nodded and the two walked out into the corridor. They had barely walked two steps when...

"And where are you two going?" the brothers flinched and exchanged a small glance. Ed gulped and in the time that it would have taken a normal person to blink he spun round, an innocent smile plastered across his face.

"Oh, hey Winry! How are you?" Winry scowled and marched straight up to Edward, who cowered slightly at her presence.

"Don't change the subject. Where are you going?" She repeated her tone low and threatening. Edward stuttered slightly, mumbling a few incoherent phrases. Winry sighed in exasperation and turned her glare upon the younger sibling. Alphonse jumped at the intensity of the glare.

"Alphonse?" Winry questioned. The suit of armour scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Umm... you see, brother and I are going to central headquarters..." he trailed off as Winry's scowl deepened. She turned her attention back to the alchemist who grinned nervously at her. There was silence for a moment before Winry sighed, her scowl dropping. The two brother's stared curiously back at her.

"Well, I suppose that explains something." She muttered to herself. She encompassed both boys in her gaze before smiling slightly, causing them both to frown. _Wasn't she mad at me two seconds ago? _Edward wondered to himself. Winry's next statement brought him swiftly back to reality.

"Hurry up, let's go." She stated, turning her back on them and walking down the corridor. The two boys stood there stunned for a moment. Edward recovered first and with a quick shake of his head tore after Winry, skidding to a halt in front of her.

"What are you doing? You're not coming with us." He stated determinedly. Winry raised an eyebrow at him, but said nothing, simply stepping past him and continuing on her way. Edward frowned at her back.

"Winry!" he yelled. The girl stopped and turned to look at him.

"Yes Edward?" she asked placidly.

"You're not coming with us." He repeated, a tad more forcefully than last time. Winry frowned at him, then folded her arms.

"You drag me out here with no explanation, and then you hint that it's something to do with the military and you think I'm going to sit in the hotel all day long while you go to headquarters? I don't think so somehow." And with that she turned on her heel and continued to walk. As she did so she craned her neck and called over her shoulder.

"At least this way I might find out some answers." Edward gazed after her for a moment, his mouth open wide. He then frowned and ran after his childhood friend, shouting the first excuse he could to make her stay behind. Alphonse sighed as he watched his brother go. He couldn't help but wonder whether his brother would make it to their appointment with the Colonel in one piece.

* * *

The clock in Roy Mustang's office ticked deafeningly in the otherwise silent room. The two men stared at each other, one waiting for a response, the other composing one. The man who was standing up sighed and raised a hand to his head, closing his eyes as he made the gesture.

"So let me get this straight." Maes began "You had a potentially disastrous argument... about flowers." There was silence for a moment before Roy replied in a defeated tone.

"Yes." Maes couldn't stand it anymore. He took one more glance at his friends face and burst into hysterics. Roy frowned up at his friend, waiting for the fit to subside. It didn't. In fact, Maes seemed to be having trouble breathing. A vein in Roy's temple twitched.

"Hughes, that really isn't helping!" he cried, standing up so rapidly that his chair toppled over. Hughes glanced up at Roy, still giggling slightly, but his composure was returning slowly. He took a deep breath before he began speaking once more.

"Sorry. It's just of all the things that people argue about you choose flowers. It's sort of ironic don't you think?" Roy's frowned deepened at the statement. Choosing not respond to the particular question he turned around and picked up his chair. Hughes sighed.

"You need to talk to her Roy. If she's as angry as you say she is, the sooner the better." Roy gave Maes a slightly worried look. He was never usually exposed to the full force of Riza's anger, and he wasn't exactly looking forward to the inevitable confrontation.

"Shouldn't I just wait for her to calm down?" he asked his friend. Maes' mouth fell open in horror. Roy looked at him feeling perplexed.

"What?"

"Do you know anything about women Roy?" Maes asked in shock. Roy smirked.

"Do you know who you're talking to?" he responded. Maes however simply grinned back at his friend.

"Oh yes how could I forget. So tell me Roy, how many arguments have you gotten into with one of your one night stands?" he asked sarcastically. Roy dropped his head, admitting defeat. Although he was loathed to admit it, his lack of long term relationships did put him at a disadvantage in this situation. He raised his head once more and locked eyes with his friend.

"All right explain." He stated weary, falling back into his chair. Maes smiled.

"If you leave her, then she'll just control the anger. Hone it down into a complex and tight set of points that no matter how hard you try, you cannot counter. Plus women always seem to drag in other flaws into the arguments if given enough time." Roy looked slightly afraid at this point.

"Other flaws?" he asked tentatively, not really sure if he wanted to hear the answer. Maes nodded enthusiastically.

"Yep. Some other small insignificant thing that you did months ago that annoyed her. Women have this unique ability to store all of these up in their mind to use them at just the right point. So you had better find her before she remembers too many, or you'll end up apologising for something you don't even remember you did." Roy was now truly afraid. He could think of countless things that he had done that would annoy the hell out of Riza. This confronting her was becoming both very appealing and daunting at the same time.

"Oh!" Roy turned his attention back to Hughes.

"What?" he asked, dreading what he was about to hear.

"Make sure you find her before she talks to one of her female friends" Maes warned dangerously. Roy couldn't help but shudder slightly the tone of voice his friend used. Maes looked him dead in the eye his face completely serious.

"If she tells a friend about the argument, and considering how ridiculous that last one was, then you're completely done for. Their friends have some sort of duty to turn you into the bad guy and will rant on for ages about how wrongly you have been treating her. And once those ideas are in their heads, there they will stay until all of them have been said. Believe me Roy; you don't want to know what Riza's friends are going to convince her to do to you." With that last sentence out of his mouth, Roy made a decision. He rushed towards the door and threw it open, glancing into his office and startling his subordinates. Seeing a vacant desk, Roy glared at his officers.

"Where's Hawkeye?" he bellowed at no one in particular.

"She just left chief." Havoc replied with his pen still in his mouth. Roy paled slightly, Hughes' words running through his head. He quickly marched across the room, throwing the outer office door open, only to come face to face with a suit of armour.

"All right, let's get this over with." Edward stated, walking past his brother. Mustang however, ignored him.

"Later Fullmetal." He grunted walking past him.

"What! You told me ten o' clock! I'm here on time, you bas..."

"I have more important matters!" Roy spat back at the boy.

"Actually Roy, you don't. The Fuhrer is demanding the latest intelligence today so you really need to speak to Edward now." Hughes stated, coming up behind them. Roy turned and stared at his friend, his mouth hanging open.

"But...but...but you said" he started, before Hughes interrupted.

"It's alright; Miss Rockbell can go and find Lieutenant Hawkeye. If that's alright with her." Hughes stated, smiling kindly down at Winry. Winry smiled back.

"Of course, I'll go now." She stated and left the doorway. Roy slumped slightly as the girl walked away and resigned himself to his meeting with Edward. He turned around and glared down at the blonde alchemist. Edward grinned mischievously back at him.

"How badly did you screw up this time?" he asked.

* * *

Riza breathed heavily, leaning slightly against the wall.

"Damn it." she hissed, raising a shaking hand to her head. This was not normal. She may have been overreacting before, but now she knew that there was something going on, and whatever it was it didn't look good. Whoever was sending her the flowers knew not only where she lived, but where she worked. But more importantly, who she worked for. She straightened herself as a thought struck her. This person made it known that they knew of her connection to Mustang, so this must be a threat to him in some way. There would be no other reason why someone would so desperately attempt to attract her attention.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye? Is everything okay?" Riza turned and smiled at Maria Ross.

"I'm fine." She said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Maria smiled back and the two walked together towards the door of the women's locker room.

"I'm glad I found you. I wanted to apologise for the flowers. I just assumed that the Colonel sent them to you." Maria stated nervously. Riza sighed and glanced at her friend.

"No, Roy never sends me flowers. They weren't for me anyway, there was a card on them, the front desk must have made a mistake." Riza wasn't sure how plausible the lie sounded, but it was the first thing that came into her head. She didn't want anyone to know about the threat to Roy's life, but considering the argument she had just had about the roses, it was important to dismiss the flowers.

"Wait a second. Colonel Mustang has never bought you flowers?" Maria asked in shock. Riza stopped and frowned at the brunette.

"No. Why?"

"Not once? Come on he _must _have given you flowers at least once! Not on your first date? Anniversary? Birthday?" Maria questioned. Riza shrugged.

"No, he hasn't. I haven't had my birthday since we've been together, we don't celebrate our anniversary and... Let's just not talk about our first date." Riza stated briskly. Maria's mouth fell open in shock.

"Why don't you celebrate your anniversary?" she asked, obviously confused. Riza frowned

"Well, I'm not sure that Roy knows when it is. I mean, I know when it is but I suppose we've only been together for four months, and I spent the last one finishing off all of his documents seeing as the men all wanted to go out for the night to celebrate the successfulness of...

"So he forgot your anniversary AND made you work on it!" Maria cried in anguish. Riza's eyes widened considerably.

"No, not at all, it's not like that." She stated hastily.

"I cannot believe that! He went out drinking with the guys on your anniversary! Seriously Riza, why didn't you _say _something." Riza felt completely confused. Seeing her reaction Maria grabbed her arm and began leading her down the corridor.

"I think you and I need a serious chat Riza" she stated calmly, dragging a very confused Riza behind her.

* * *

"How did we not see this before?" Havoc whispered, staring at the paper's in front of him. Edward frowned picking up the police report.

"So they were killed in exactly the same way?" He asked. Hughes nodded.

"Yes, except that these cases were dismissed as there was no evidence to suggest that they were more than simply crimes of passion. All except the last one." Edward threw the file back on to the desk and slammed his metal arm on the table.

"This still makes no sense! So the killer starts with two low life men and moves on to a business man and three women with absolutely no connection between them?"

"Oh I wouldn't say that." All eyes turned to Roy. He smirked back up at Edward from his seat behind the desk.

"Some of us Fullmetal do extensive research to back up our findings. And if you look closely at the files, you would see that all of our men do have one particular...ummm... _habit_ in common." Mustang stated smugly. Ed ground his teeth together in annoyance at the tone his superior used, but considering that he had completely lost what they were talking about, said nothing.

"What did you find Sir?" Fuery asked quietly. Hughes coughed slightly, causing Mustang's grin to widen.

"The business man, Simon Keel attempted to hide it well, using an alias and leaving himself almost untraceable, but we found it in the end. All three were regular guests at _the sugar bowl_." He stated. This caused a number of different reactions. Fuery turned a violent shade of red, Breda let out a bark of laughter that he attempted to cover by coughing violently, Falman raised his eyebrows but other than that made no reaction, while Havoc immediately attempted to hide the fact that he was suffering from a particularly hasty nose bleed.

"What sort of place is that?" Al asked innocently. All the adults immediately became silent and exchanged glances.

"Never mind." Hughes stated swiftly, ignoring Edward's indignant spluttering. Roy grinned and clapped his hands together.

"Yes well, that means that we at least have a place to begin." He stated getting up.

"Wait. What about the women?" Edward asked. Roy froze his back to the rest of the room. Hughes shot his friend a worried glance but stayed silent.

"We believe that from what you told us Fullmetal, that they were simply a way to get the military's attention. There was nothing connecting any of them and apparently none of them exhibited any strange behaviour before they died. They were just random attacks." Silence filled the room for a moment, each of the occupants lost in their own thoughts. In one swift movement Roy turned around.

"Now, I have a plan" he stated, an odd glint in his eye. The rest of his subordinates exchanged looks with each other. For some reason, none of them liked the tone of voice that their superior had adopted when saying that.

* * *

The girl at the desk flicked through the pages of her book without really reading them. It had been a slow day so far, and there really wasn't much to do. She glanced up as the door to the shop opened. She smiled professionally, automatically hiding the book out of eye shot.

"Can I help you?" she asked sweetly.

"A dozen white roses please." Her eyebrows shot up at the request, but she complied. White roses were hard to come by in Amerstres, making them exceptionally expensive. As she gathered the flowers together she turned and smiled at the customer.

"They sure are wonderful flowers. For someone special?" she asked politely.

"Oh yes." Came the response "Although she doesn't know how special yet." The girl smiled.

"Well these are certainly beautiful. I'm sure she will love them. I know I would kill to get a bunch of these!" she stated with a laugh. The customer laughed along with her before replying.

"Oh yes, they certainly are beautiful. Perfectly fitting for her. She's just going to _die _when she sees them".

**A/N: Please review with what you think.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who is supporting and reviewing this story! I actually have a plan for this (!!) so it's great to know so many of you are enjoying this. On with the next chapter!**

**Chapter 6**

Maria Ross stared open mouthed at the woman in front of her. She placed her drink back down on the table before she began speaking.

"He actually stopped you from looking at the files? Isn't that sexist or something." she stated angrily. Riza frowned, turning to gaze at her lunch, which she had so far not started eating.

"He was trying to protect me." She replied, rather surprised at the tone of voice that she used. She had aimed at using it as an explanation for Roy's actions, but it had sounded rather harsh and bitter. Maria tutted.

"Yes, because obviously the person who spends most of her time saving his ass is going to need protection. But I'm sure you told him that yourself anyway. And probably a lot more, considering he should know you by now!" Silence was the response she received. Maria frowned and looked suspiciously over at the woman in front of her, who was currently avoiding her gaze.

"Riza... please tell me that you said something about this." Maria asked slowly. Riza sighed

"Of course I said something. I just..." she trailed off absently. Maria looked at her, concern gracing her features.

"Riza, is everything alright between you and Roy? From what you've told me, you both seem to be arguing a lot more than usual." She asked, leaning closer to her friend. Riza's head shot up at the statement.

"No, of course we're fine." She replied quickly. She sighed and then returned to staring at her food.

"It's just... there are things that go unsaid. It's nothing important. Just little things." Riza's usual mask crumpled slightly at this statement, her face showing a rare sign of sadness. Maria glanced back at her friend in surprise. This wasn't like her.

"Maybe you should talk to Roy. Actually, I think you should, because by the sound of it you don't seem to do that much." Maria said with a smile, hoping this will help. However, Riza shook her head violently, her face taking on its usual emotionless stance.

"No, there's no need to concern him. We're fine, I'm worrying about nothing." She stated rather forcefully. There was silence between the two for a moment. Maria sighed and leaned back in her chair.

"So he actually thought that you were cheating on him?" Riza looked up, confused for a moment.

"About the flowers." She added. Riza sighed.

"I guess." Maria grinned.

"You're no good at this are you?"

"Good at what?" the blonde replied, loosing what was, in her opinion, an exceptionally odd conversation. Maria laughed.

"Bitching about your poor excuse for a boyfriend" she stated lightly. Riza shifted uncomfortably at this statement.

"Maria, you are insulting a superior officer, that's a...

"No." Maria cut in determinedly, pointing a finger at Riza "I am insulting your boyfriend. It's completely different." Riza looked at her friend as if she was mad.

"I have no problems with him as a Colonel and as a superior. However, I do have problems with the guy that makes you work on your anniversary...

"It's not that much of a problem..." Riza muttered anxiously.

"...insults your capabilities as an officer..." Maria continued

"But he didn't mean it that way!" Riza countered, not liking where this was going.

"...And forgets your fav..." Maria stopped mid flow, her expression becoming thoughtful. Riza frowned, waiting for her to speak once more. When she didn't the blonde folded her arms and stated

"What?" Maria glanced back up at her, her face wary. Riza raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"You're not going to like it." Riza simply gazed back at her, her expression unmoving. Maria sighed.

"Okay. You remember a few months ago when Havoc was dating that bimbo from the flower shop who dumped him for Roy?" Maria asked. Riza nodded

"Yes, Grace I think her name was. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I remember when Roy decided to wind up Havoc and bought her that really expensive bouquet of flowers, which we both thought was stupid because she works around the damn things all day, but he insisted on doing it anyway. Well it was so expensive because it was made up of four different types of roses. Havoc was ranting about it for days because he said that there was no way she would be able to resist as..."

"Roses were her favourite flower." Riza finished her tone grave. There was silence for a moment.

"Bastard" Maria muttered. To her surprise, Riza nodded glumly. Maria smiled.

"Anything else you want to talk about?" she asked once more.

* * *

Winry trudged through yet another corridor of central headquarters, no longer sure if she was feeling annoyed or miserable. She had decided to come here deliberately so she could find out exactly what the brothers were up to. Unfortunately, it just looked like she once again going to be in the dark, as she had been searching for Lieutenant Hawkeye for twenty minutes and so far she had had no luck in finding her.

"Maybe I should just give up." She muttered to herself, hoping that if she did that then she would at least hear some of the last moments of the meeting. Just at that moment she passed the cafeteria. She sighed in relief as she spotted two familiar officer's sitting at one edge of the room. She quickly made her way through the crowded room towards the two. As she approached she noticed that both were laughing, Lieutenant Ross practically crying in amusement.

"You are joking! He actually ate that stuff? Did you tell him?" Ross asked, seemingly regaining control of herself. Riza let out a restrained giggle before continuing.

"I couldn't bring myself to do it. What was I meant to say? No, that wasn't salad dressing; you just consumed my dog's flea medication? I really don't think that would have gone down well." Maria threw her head back and laughed once more. Winry stared at the two officers, not sure if she should interrupt what seemed to be quite an interesting conversation. It was then that Riza noticed the girl.

"Hello Miss Rockbell." She said, letting the girl know that it was alright for her to interrupt. Winry smiled, moving forward.

"Hello Lieutenant. I was sent here to find you by Lieutenant Colonel Hughes." She stated hoping that she could return to the office quickly. Riza sighed and turned to Maria.

"I should go. I'll see you later." She said, getting up and moving away. Suddenly she frowned, turning back to look at her friend.

"You can't tell anyone what I just said." She stated her tone serious. Maria grinned and giggled.

"I don't think I could if I tried. The image is too funny!" and with that she burst into hysterics once more. Riza sighed and turned away, Winry following quickly. They proceeded down the corridor in silence. That is until Winry curiosity got the better of her.

"Did Colonel Mustang really eat your dog's medicine?" she asked quietly. Riza whipped her head around, dismayed that the young girl had heard the conversation. Winry grinned at the woman's reaction. Before Hawkeye could say anything Winry continued to speak.

"It's okay, I won't say anything. When we were younger I convinced Ed that woodlice were made out of chocolate. He ate them religiously for two years. He was such a fussy eater that I didn't have the heart to tell him that I had been lying. " She smiled and continued walking towards their destination. Riza stared after the young girl, allowing a small smile to grace her lips, before joining her.

* * *

There was silence in Mustang's office as the five men and two boys stared at the Colonel.

"No way in hell." Havoc stated folding his arms and glaring at Mustang. Hughes looked sideways at his friend.

"Roy, this is not one of your best ideas." He stated carefully, noticing that the flame alchemist was looking slightly irritated at his comrade's lack of enthusiasm. Roy growled and took all of them in his gaze before continuing.

"It is the perfect plan! And as your superior, I am ordering you to take part in it." he stated loudly. Fuery looked pleadingly at Hughes, using his best puppy dog eyes on his superior.

"Chief, I can't be seen near a place like that! It will ruin my reputation!" Havoc yelled, suddenly realising that there was no way out of this. In response Breda muttered "Who's going to care?" which luckily covered the Colonel's answer of "What reputation?"

"What's the problem?" All eyes turned to the Fullmetal alchemist, who for once was not arguing with his superior. His amber eyes gazed up at the adults as he continued to speak

"It's just a simple recon mission. When do we leave?"

"You're not going." Stated Mustang

"WHAT!"

"If we are going to do this, we need to do it properly. You fall short of the credentials for this one." Mustang stated lazily, smirking

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL YOU WOULDNT NOTICE IF HE... _BANG_" Edward's statement was cut short as a wrench smacked him hard on the upside of the head, causing him to fall to the floor in a heap.

"Thank you Miss Rockbell." Remarked a dry voice from the door way. All eyes turned to see Hawkeye standing there. She saluted, carefully avoiding Roy's gaze as she turned and looked at Hughes.

"You wanted to see me Sir?" she asked. Hughes smiled.

"Yes Lieutenant, but first, I think we should inform you of tonight's mission." Roy paled slightly at the statement. Havoc grinned manically at Hughes's words. He turned and before anyone could say anything, Havoc gleefully informed Hawkeye of the plan. There was silence in the room as they all watched the blonde woman digest the information. Riza straightened her mask perfectly in place.

"Well Sir, I don't see how you need me in this plan of yours" Hawkeye stated icily. Roy flinched at her words. He was now regretting the nature of his plan, considering how it must of look after his blunder earlier. While his mind was busy grasping at any means to rectify himself, Hughes began speaking.

"Actually Lieutenant, you fit perfectly into this plan. In fact I think that you could be the most important part of it." he said with a grin. Edward and Alphonse shared a confused look at this statement, considering that Hawkeye had not been part of this plan in the first place. Hawkeye on the other hand, to everyone's amazement turned a bright shade of crimson and gazed at her shoes. Havoc looked Hawkeye up and down for a moment and then for the second time that day his nose starting gushing with blood. He hastily turned away, stuffing an already bloody tissue up his nostrils,praying that his superior hadn't caught his wandering eyes. Fortunately for him Mustang was staring opened moved at Hughes, seemingly incapable of speaking. Edward took this as an opportunity to put in his opinion.

"I still don't see why I can't go." He stated loudly. Everyone's attention immediately turned to the young alchemist. However, Ed was more concerned with the look on Winry's face. He gulped as he realised that whatever this plan was of Mustang's, for his own health, he really shouldn't be a part of it.

"Edward." Winry hissed through clenched teeth "I swear if you go anywhere near that place tonight I'll make you wish that whatever destroyed your arm had taken you with it." and with that she turned and stormed out of the room, leaving Ed to the horrors of his imagination. From the corner of the room, Alphonse stared around the room, completely perplexed. _I wonder what's so bad about a place called the sugar bowl. It doesn't sound too threatening to me. I guess I'm missing something _he thought sadly to himself.

* * *

Riza sighed as she began to tidy the remnants of the day's paperwork from the desks. She was dreading this evening. For once in her life she actually agreed with something Havoc had said. There was a damn good reason why she usually helped the Colonel devise most of his plans.

"Riza?" a voice asked tentatively. She looked up and met eyes with Roy. He smiled slightly at her, but her face remained cold and emotionless. Feeling slightly nervous, he watched as she gathered her belongings together.

"Is there something you need Colonel?" she asked softly. Roy started, not expecting her to speak. He shook his head silently. Riza nodded then headed towards the door. Roy realised that he couldn't leave it like this. The two of them had barely exchanged eye contact, let alone spoken to each other since their argument this morning. He was going to lose her if he didn't do something soon.

"Wait." She stopped just before reaching the door. She turned and waited for him to say something.

"Can I walk you home?" he asked quietly. Riza raised her eyes to look at him, some of her anger fading at the desperate look in his eyes.

"I have to pick up Hayate on the way." She stated. Roy smiled and followed her out of the office.

* * *

"Good evening Lieutenant." Jessica stated brightly as Riza and Roy as they entered the kennels. Riza smiled

"Good evening Jessica, I like your hair." The red haired woman beamed at the statement, before leaving the reception area to fetch Hayate. A few seconds later the door to the kennels opened and Adrian walked out, carrying the dog in his arms, as Jessica walked out and returned to her chair.

"Here you go Hayate." He stated, putting the dog on the floor. Riza smiled and patted her dog on the head before turning back to Adrian.

"Hope he wasn't any trouble." He laughed

"No, he never is. He's a good dog." Roy shot the man a glare. He did not like the way he was speaking to his Riza. Riza looked up at him and frowned at his expression. She sighed and bid the two of them goodnight before leaving. The two walked towards Riza's apartment surrounded by an awkward silence. Roy kept stealing glances at Riza whenever he could. He was no good at this. He knew he had hurt her, but he had no idea how to start making it up to her. Hesitantly he reached out his hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. Riza allowed a small smile to pass her lips, gripping his hand tighter. By this time the two of them had reached Riza's door. Without letting go of Roy's hand she pulled out her keys and let them both in, Hayate skipping in after them. As soon as she closed the door Roy grabbed her from behind and hugged her tightly. Riza smiled and leaned back slightly.

"I'm sorry. Really, you have no idea how sorry I am. I just don't want to loose you. Not anyone, you know that right." Roy whispered into her hair.

"I know." She whispered, turning in his arms and kissing him gently. Roy was surprised at her actions. Riza smiled and leaned against his chest.

"I just don't want to fight anymore." She muttered, her voice muffled by the many layers of the military uniform.

"Did you say something my love?" Roy asked, pulling back slightly. Riza hesitated for a second, remembering what Maria had said to her earlier. But she shook her head.

"No, it's nothing." Roy smiled and leaned in to kiss her, but Riza stopped him with her fingertips. He pouted. Riza grinned.

"We don't have time, we need to get ready." She stated, breaking his hold on her and walking towards her bedroom.

"We don't even have time for a makeup kiss?" Roy wined as she disappeared into her room. Riza stuck her head out of the door.

"Don't even pretend it was a makeup kiss you were looking for her. As I said before, we don't have time." Roy smirked at her and with a smile Riza closed the door to her room. She flicked on the light and opened her wardrobe door, staring at the contents.

"Why do I have to do this?" she asked herself as she began pulling out an outfit that would work for their mission tonight.

**A/N: This is dedicated to one of my best friends who, bless her heart, did honestly think that woodlice looked like chocolate and therefore spent much of her childhood eating them! **

**Hope you all liked that chapter. Please review with your thoughts. **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you for all the kind reviews, I really appreciate them. I'm so glad that you are all enjoying this so far.**

**Chapter 7**

"Why do we have to do this?" Fuery wined pitifully as he trailed after Havoc. The second Lieutenant sighed morosely, but didn't bother answering. The two continued in silence towards their destination. As they approached the meeting point, they found that Falman, Breda and Hughes were already there. The five men exchanged greetings before descending into a wary silence. All except Hughes, who was busy humming brightly to himself. Havoc frowned.

"Sir, what are you so happy about?" he grumbled. Hughes flicked his eyes towards the blonde man before answering.

"I have big plans for this evening." He stated, his smile widening as his mind ran rampant with plans. The four other men exchanged looks. Breda suddenly frowned.

"Sir, I arrived early and you were already here. How long have you been here?" he asked curiously. Hughes' smile widened.

"Oh I just had a few things to get in order." He stated lightly. Seeing the officer's bemused stares he decided to elaborate further.

"Roy's plan was pretty good, but considering the nature of what we need to find out, I took the liberty of making sure that we cover all angels. Besides it will be good for them."

"Them?" Havoc wondered aloud. However before he could ponder upon the strange answer he received, voices caught his and the other's attention.

"Would you just drop it? Seriously, do I look that terrible?"

"No! No, that's not it, it's just..."

"What? What is it Roy?"

"Why have I never seen that dress before?" Havoc's mouth dropped open as his superiors rounded the corner and made their way swiftly towards them. He was stunned by Riza's appearance. She was dressed in a deep red dress that reached about half way up her thighs; black knee length boots with a small heel covered her legs. A black short jacket that stopped just before her middle completed the outfit. Her blonde hair was down and fell around her shoulders and she wore subtle makeup. Hughes grinned and bounded to his best friend's side.

"Doesn't Hawkeye look wonderful Roy!" he said with a smile. Roy gave his friend an odd look but didn't say anything. Riza frowned at Havoc, who was still gazing at her open mouthed.

"Is there something wrong Second Lieutenant?" she asked angrily. Havoc snapped back to reality.

"Nope, nothing at all." he answered looking away.

"Yes, Havoc it better be nothing." Roy growled threateningly. Havoc gulped and turned away. Riza rolled her eyes at the situation.

"Shouldn't we get going?" She stated wearily. Roy nodded in agreement. Hughes on the other hand lifted a hand in protest.

"Before we do, there is another part of this plan that I need to inform you of." He said happily. Roy frowned.

"No there isn't Maes. It's my plan, and all we are doing is investigating the deaths of the three men who were clients here. What else is there?" he asked, feeling confused. Maes hesitated for a moment but continued none the less.

"Well, considering what the men were doing when they were last seen here, it would probably be best if we got some inside information." His gaze flickered towards Hawkeye when he said this. Riza's mouth fell open.

"You want me to pose as a prostitute!" she cried, her face turning a deep shade of scarlet.

"Well you're the only one who can Hawkeye." Maes explained calmly, "Besides, the women here would be the last people to see the victims, so it's essential that someone talks to them. So my contacts put me in touch with the owner and I said I had girl that he might be interested in." The last sentence slipped out as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Riza's face, if possible, turned an even brighter shade of red as she immediately began studying her boots with great interest.

"Maes!" Roy spluttered "You're using my girlfriend in your insane plans without even asking me first!" The statement caught Riza's attention. She raised her eyes and stared at Roy coldly.

"He has to ask your permission? I am not your property Roy Mustang!" she commented through gritted teeth. Roy started. He was really messing up tonight. Attempting to keep himself in Riza's good books, he stated.

"I never said that. Besides, as my subordinate, he does need to ask my permission before using any of my people." Riza sighed and turned, grabbed Hughes' arm, roughly, dragging him to her side.

"Well Sir, considering that you were the one who originally devised the plan; we are all forced to play our roles. Now, let's get this over with." And with that she turned and stalked towards the sugar bowl, pulling Hughes with her as she went. Roy and his remaining subordinates stared after them for a moment before quickly running to catch up with them.

* * *

The entrance to the sugar bowl stood down a seemingly average looking alley. The only irregularity was the thick set gentlemen standing guard. Riza gulped as she walked towards them. While she had been confident concerning this mission a moment before, she was starting to get nervous. True, she had been persuaded by her anger at Roy's statement, a reaction that she was now regretting. Sensing her nervousness, Hughes drew slightly closer to her.

"Don't worry Hawkeye, nothing's going to happen. You just have to act the part for a few hours and we'll be out of here by ten, no later. "He promised in a whisper. Riza nodded imperceptibly, as they had now reached the door. Turning his thick neck towards the approaching group, the man on the left gruffly stated.

"Keep on walking. We're full." Hughes straightened up and without warning, roughly pulled Riza to his side.

"Louigi's expecting me. Names Jackson, I've brought a new girl." He responded. The man leered down at Riza, causing her to flinch slightly.

"She's alright looking I guess. Nice up front I must say." Roy's fingers were itching to snap, but he restrained himself, knowing he couldn't blow their cover now. The man nodded to his companion, allowing Hughes and Riza to pass. The other four men moved forward, only to be stopped once more. Seeing this, Riza and Hughes turned.

"They're with me." Hughes stated confidently. The bouncer snorted. However, the one on the right leaned forward.

"Come on Larry, at least let that one in." He stated, pointing a pudgy finger at Roy "He's a looker." Both Riza and Hughes sniggered as Roy was allowed through. A slight coughing sound from behind drew the bouncers' attention. Havoc was leaning against the wall, holding a pack of cigarette's obviously in his hand.

"Fine, but you're the last one." Havoc grinned and tossed the pack at Larry. The two men moved out of the way and opened the door. Hughes entered first followed closely by Hawkeye. To Roy's great annoyance, Larry slapped her butt as she walked passed. However the annoyance was short lived as Roy felt his own butt being slapped. Havoc roared with laughter as his superior hurriedly made his way into the sugar bowl. Outside Fuery let out a sigh of relief as the three remaining subordinates walked back the way they had come.

"Do you think we should wait for them?" Falman asked. Breda shook his head.

"No, they're all together, they will be fine."

* * *

Riza stared around the club in horror. _How the hell am I meant to do this? _She wondered to herself. The place was dingy, small round tables set all over the floor, a long bar at one end of the room. A small stage occupied the other end, on which there were two poles, leaving little to the imagination of their use. A host of scantily clad women served as waitresses, much to the delight of the all male clientele.

"Hi there, my name is Roxanne, how can I help you this evening?" An exceptionally tall and skinny woman asked, flicking her curtain of jet hair over her shoulder as she did so, causing all attention to be drawn to her beaded top and thread bare skirt. Havoc drooled. Roy glared at his second Lieutenant, but noticeably averted his eyes from the woman in front of him. Hughes on the other hand seemed completely unfazed. He smiled politely at the woman and was about to speak when Roxanne caught sight of Riza.

"Oh. Are you the new girl?" she asked peering at Riza. Riza looked away, not sure how to respond. She had never really had much faith in her own appearance, but didn't let it bother her. There were much more important things to worry about. But compared to these women, she couldn't help but feel exceptionally inadequate. In her silence, Hughes decided to answer for her.

"Yes, her name's..." he paused for a moment, glancing at Riza slightly before stating "Ruby." Riza frowned at the Lieutenant Colonel, who simply smiled moronically. Roxanne smiled.

"Hey Ruby. Louigi's not here yet, but you're welcome to come with me and wait." She stared kindly at Riza. Riza nodded, stepping forward, the others following closely. Roxanne spun round.

"Sorry, girls only." She stated with a wink. Riza turned and stared at Roy, panic in both their gazes. Hughes clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"That's fine. We'll be waiting for you here, don't worry!" he stated cheerfully. Riza nodded, tearing her eyes away from Roy's. Roy moved forward s if to stop them when Roxanne met his gaze.

"Don't worry; I'll take good care of her." She stated, taking Riza's hand and leading her away. Roy sighed defeated, watching their retreating backs.

"I need a drink." He muttered heading towards the bar, leaving Hughes and Havoc alone. Seizing the opportunity, Havoc turned and looked towards Hughes, asking a question that had been bothering him for a while.

"Sir, what exactly are you planning for them, assuming that you meant the Chief and Hawkeye?" Hughes grinned.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm helping them progress their relationship! I'm getting them married." He stated proudly. Havoc stared blankly at him.

"And having Hawkeye pose as a prostitute and the chief sit at the bar in Centrals most notorious brothel and strip club is the way to do that?" he questioned. Hughes looked at Havoc in amazement.

"Of course! It will clarify how much they mean to one another, plus experiences like this bring us all closer together!" he cried, beaming happily. Havoc's mouth fell open. Shaking his head, he began to speak once more.

"Promise me something Sir." He stated. Hughes nodded.

"Never ever make any plans to help me in my personal life. Ever." He said before turning and making his way towards Mustang. Hughes frowned, but followed Havoc.

* * *

Riza was lead through a door at the back of the club to a large dressing room. A few girls were littered around, chatting and applying makeup. As soon as they were inside, Roxanne turned and smiled widely at Riza.

"Good work." She stated. Riza frowned, confused.

"Excuse me?" she asked. Roxanne laughed.

"That dark haired hottie you came in with. He's yours right?" she asked. Riza's mouth fell open in shock.

"Was it that obvious?" she asked. Roxanne smiled.

"Only to me. I'm pretty good at reading people. He obviously loves you deeply by the way he was looking at you. I can tell. Same way I can tell that there is no way that you are in this business." Riza froze at the last statement, fear running through her mind. Seeing this Roxanne spoke.

"It's okay. I'm pretty sure I can guess why you're here. About the murders right?" Riza narrowed her eyes slightly. It was rather suspicious that this woman knew exactly what she was here for. However, Riza's intuition was pretty good and she felt as if she could trust this woman. However before either one could say anything further, a blur of blue and blonde flew past them, almost knocking Riza to her feet.

"Crystall!" Yelled Roxanne in annoyance at the girls back as she reached out a hand to help steady Riza.

"What's her problem?" Roxanne muttered, turning her attention back to the blonde Lieutenant. She sighed.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" she asked in earnest. Riza sighed before speaking once more.

"Another whisky for you Sir?" the petite brunette asked sweetly, pouring Mustang a refill before he even answered. Hughes frowned at his friend. That was his sixth generous helping in the past hour, and already his speech was starting to slur.

"Chief I think you need to slow down." Havoc stated as he slid into the stool next to him. Mustang shot what would have been a threatening glare at his subordinate. That is, if he could have focused on Havoc clearly.

"I'm good." He muttered, turning away and concentrating on his drink once more. Hughes sighed, leaning across his friend's back to speak to Havoc.

"Anything?" he whispered. Havoc shook his head.

"Nothing. No one's talking. But that's hardly surprising, they don't want to even admit that they go to places like this, let alone talk about others." Hughes sighed and shook his head.

"Keep trying." Havoc nodded and left his chair in search of any information. The chair was promptly occupied by a long legged blonde, who instantly stared stroking Roy's hair.

"Hey there hansom." She purred into his ear. Roy gazed blearily at her for a moment.

"Naaah, you're not her." He slurred, shrugging out of her hold. "She don't call me hansom." He squinted. "You sure do lookie like her tho'" the girl laughed, moving closer to snuggle up to him.

"I can be whoever you want me to baby." She whispered seductively. Roy stared at her looking confused.

"Why would I wants dat when I can have the real thing?" he asked, seeming completely confused. He turned and looked at Hughes.

"Why would she ask that? I just wants my Riza. Maes, where my Riza go?" he asked, whining slightly. The woman looked disgusted at this comment, automatically untangling herself from Roy and flouncing off to find her next conquest. Maes sighed.

"I think that's enough drink Roy." He replied, taking the glass and draining it himself. Roy pouted.

"I wants my Riza." He muttered. Maes glanced around, a dangerous look in his eye. He leaned forward.

"So Roy...when are you going to marry Riza?" he asked curiously. Roy stared at him.

"Well I needs a ring to marries my Riza. So when I have a ring!" he stated, seeming exceptionally proud that he was able to answer the question. Maes beamed.

"So you want to marry her?" he asked barely able to contain his excitement. Roy frowned.

"I don't know. I need to do this ring thing. And she needs a dress. But I loves my Riza so yeah I just need a dress and a ring. Do you know where I can get a dress from?" the last sentence was said quite loudly, causing the people around them to stare at him in confusion. Before Maes could stop him, Roy continued.

"And not just any dress, I want a special dress. A smexy dress! A mini skirt dress!" he yelled triumphantly, stumbling out of his chair. Maes grabbed him by the collar and dragged him towards the exit.

"Come on Roy, time to go." He stated, signalling to Havoc on his way. The three stumbled out of the sugar bowl, Roy whining incoherently about dresses and for some reason, peacocks.

"Sir?" Maes turned and saw Riza standing outside, Roxanne next to her, leaning against the wall, cigarette in hand. Riza turned to the woman and smiled.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She stated. The other woman nodded and waved as Riza ran towards her fellow officers.

"What happened?" she asked worriedly, as Roy leaned heavily on Maes, his head drooping slightly.

"Whisky." Maes stated. Riza rolled her eyes. She moved forward, sweeping the bangs out of his eyes.

"Roy?" she asked. His eyes focused.

"My Riza?" He whimpered, as he stumbled on to his own two feet. Maes smiled softly at the two.

"I'll go get a car, there's no way he can walk home and I definitely do not feel like carrying him." He stated.

"I'll go to. You guys keep walking we'll come and get you." Havoc added. Riza smiled at them both as the two turned and walked away. She turned her attention back to the swaying Mustang.

"Come on Roy." She stated tiredly, putting an arm around him in order to support him. They began to walk slowly down the street. Roy leaned his head down so it as resting on top of Riza's.

"Missed my Riza." He whispered. Riza couldn't help but smile slightly.

"So you replaced me with alcohol." She commented dryly, a tinge of humour in her voice. However Roy stopped, wavering slightly. He turned and shook his head violently at her.

"No no no no no ..." he broke off as he realised that shaking his head was not a good idea. He blinked rapidly waiting for the world to stop spinning.

"No replacing. Nothing is as good as my Riza. My Riza is beautiful, amazingness, so strong and she puts up with me cos I'm useless and not worthy. My Riza can do so much better but she wants me and I don't understand it. My Riza is the bestest thing in my world, nothing is replacing my Riza." Riza stared at him, feeling as if her heart was melting. Even though Roy was very drunk that was the sweetest thing anyone had said to her. Roy walked unsteadily up to her, hugging her close.

"Love my Riza." He said happily. Riza found herself fighting back tears as she whispered back.

"I love you too Roy." Roy pulled back and smiled, officially become the cutest thing Riza had ever seen. Suddenly his smile turned into a grimace and he automatically let go of Riza, stumbling away. Riza looked questioningly at him before he fell on his knees and vomited. Riza groaned, shaking her head slightly.

"Maybe he's not so cute." she muttered to herself.

**A/N: Roy's grammar is meant to be like that, he is drunk after all. **

**As ever please review and let me know what you think!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I really appreciate all of your feedback. Hope you enjoy this next chapter. **

**Chapter 8**

Roy opened his eyes slowly, dreading what would come when he succumbed to consciousness. However he was beyond desperate for a drink, _any _drink. And in order to quench his first, and remove what felt like a lump from the back of his throat, he was going to have to get up. Slowly he opened his eyes. He felt...fine. He stared up at the ceiling for a moment as he attempted to piece together the events of the night before.

_There's no way I didn't drink last night, _he thought to himself, _okay, we went to the sugar bowl. Riza looked damn hot in that dress...then there was whisky... more whisky... a lot more whisky. Then Maes was talking about... something... Riza maybe? I don't remember. I think we left the bar, but I don't remember how..._

"You're finally awake." Stated a voice from the door way. Roy turned his head slowly, still wary of the fact that he should be sporting one hell of a headache to see Riza leaning against the door frame. He smiled and held out his arms towards her. The blonde sighed and made her way over to the bed in order to sit beside him. However, Roy pulled her down so she was resting her head on his chest. She moved her head in order to look at him.

"How are you feeling?" she asked quietly, reaching out and running her fingers through his bangs. He smiled

"Absolutely fine." He replied. Riza frowned.

"Seriously? You don't normally feel fine after consuming that much alcohol." Roy grinned down at her.

"I must be developing a higher tolerance." He stated proudly. Riza sat up, glaring t him.

"That's not a good thing Roy. Besides, having seen your dinner in reverse last night, I really doubt your tolerance level is dramatically higher." She replied. Roy winced.

"Sorry. I really am." Riza's expression softened.

"It's alright. Besides, I'm sure you can make it up to me later." She added with a smile. Roy grinned definitely liking the sound of that statement. However, to his disappointment, Riza stood up from the bed.

"I need to go home for a while. Hayate needs feeding, plus I really need a shower and a different set of clothes." Seeing Roy's pouting expression Riza smiled.

"I'll be back in a couple of hours, I promise." She stated, turning to leave.

"Oh no you don't" Roy growled, jumping out of bed. However, as soon as he stood vertical, the world around him shifted, causing his legs to give way, forcing him to collapse back on to the bed. He groaned, his head falling to his hands as he waiting for the spinning to subside.

"You're still drunk aren't you? No wonder you felt fine this morning." Riza replied with a laugh. Roy fell back on to the bed, burying his face into the pillow. Riza sighed, walking over and pulling the covers back over him. He turned and looked at her, feeling exceptionally sorry for himself.

"You're just lucky it's a Saturday. Now, gets some sleep. The worst is still to come." She whispered softly before kissing the top of his head and standing to go. However, before she could go very far, Roy grabbed hold of her wrist.

"Don't I get a real goodbye kiss?" he whined. Riza, to his amazement grimaced.

"You just spent most of last night throwing up. I'm sorry Roy, I love you, but until you clean your teeth, there's no way I'm kissing you." And with that she turned and walked out of the apartment, leaving a very disgruntled flame Alchemist to the beginnings of a hangover.

* * *

Riza made her way through the streets of Central as fast as her legs could carry her. It was one thing to wear this dress out during the evening, but she was just asking for the stares she was receiving for wearing it on a Saturday morning. Riza ran the last couple of meters, pulling her key out of her pocket as she did so.

"Hayate, I really hope you didn't make a mess." She mumbled to herself as she stepped up to the front step, sliding the key into the lock. It was then she realised she was standing on something. Distractedly, she half glanced down at her feet. Her eyes widened and she backed way in horror. She was standing on dozen white roses, placed perfectly on her front step. She stood still, unable to move, her gaze fixated on the flowers. Suddenly her senses caught up with her and she grabbed her gun from her thigh holster, scanning the area for any threats. There were none. Nothing. The complex was as silent and calm as ever. She sighed heavily, her hand still shaking slightly as she replaced her gun once more.

_Get a hold of yourself Riza! _She scolded herself; _it's just a few roses. Nothing to get frightened about. _Still, as soon as she approached the door she frantically kicked the flowers away, until there was no trace of them upon the step. She turned back to the key which was still placed in the lock, allowing herself to open the door. As soon as the door opened a tiny cracked, a blur of black and white fur sped past Riza. She smiled, as she watched the puppy retreat in order to relieve itself. She removed the key from the lock, and walked thankfully into her own apartment, shutting the door behind her. She breathed a sigh of relief, leaning her head against the door. It was good to be home, especially after the night she had just had. She lifted her hand and stared down at her watched. It was just after half past ten. She had just under an hour before she was supposed to meet Roxanne. She removed herself from the door frame and pulled of her jacket, grimacing as her hand brushed a patch of dried sick that her boyfriend had left on her. She smiled to herself slightly. Although Roy was an idiot for drinking that much, he had been rather sweet to her last night, even in a drunken stupor. Which was saying a lot, considering that he seemed to believe that Hughes was a giant talking llama for most of the ride home. She laughed, picking up the jacket and throwing it into the washing basket. It was then that a scrabbling sound from the doorway caught her attention. Hayate was back. She quickly made her way across the room, opening the door and allowing the puppy inside once more. He scampered in, sliding slightly across the floorboards, causing Riza to laugh out loud. The dog automatically whimpered, pawing frantically at his neck. Riza frowned. That was odd.

"Hayate, what's wrong? Please don't tell me you've got fleas." She wondered aloud, she bent down to inspect the dog's fur, allowing her hands to trace his neck. All of a sudden, she drew her hands back as if she had received an electric shock. Hayate barked, ceasing scratching in favour of nuzzling his mistress's fallen hand at her sudden reaction. Riza continued to stare at the dog in horror. For tied around his neck was a blue ribbon, a small folded note, attached where a bell would have been. She gulped, closing her eyes for a moment in order to steady herself.

"It's okay Hayate, I'm okay." she whispered soothingly to the concerned animal, her trembling fingers stroking his soft fur. As she did so, she deftly untied the ribbon, allowing it to fall to the floor, while securing the piece of paper into her hand. Drawing as much courage into her as she could, she sat down on the cold floor, and opened the note.

_Bet he liked you in the short red dress, right Lieutenant? Wouldn't have expected that of you, you whoring little bitch. _

Riza dropped the note, breathing heavily. This was definitely not good. Whoever this person was, he was now following her on missions, as well as knowing both her home and work addresses. What was worse was that the threat continued to centre around Roy. She clenched her fists together as rage began to override her fear. How dare they use her in order to get to him! When she found them, for there was no doubt she would, she would make them pay for ever threatening her Roy. Her thoughts were interrupted as the phone rang. Riza started, forcing her muscles to move towards the object.

"Hello." She stated, automatically realising too late that her voice was shaking from a mixture of anger and fear.

"Riza?" asked a familiar voice "Is everything alright?" Riza breathed in calmly, steadily her voice before replying.

"Hi Gracia, no everything's fine. What can I do for you?" she asked.

"I'll get straight to the point. Did my husband force you to pose as a prostitute last night?" the older woman stated bluntly. Riza's eyes widened at the statement. She truly wasn't expecting that.

"Ummm... well the original idea was Roy's but I didn't know about my particular role in it until I turned up." She replied, in an attempt to alleviate some of the blame from the Lieutenant Colonel.

"And did my husband come up with this particular role?" replied the voice on the other end of the line. Riza sighed. Gracia was a master when it came to questioning people. It proved exceptionally handy with Maes.

"I believe so from the shocked looks on everyone's faces, yes." She stated in a defeated tone.

"I am going to kill him!" Gracia hissed down the phone, almost causing Riza to burst out laughing.

"Mummy?" questioned a faint voice on the other end of the line.

"Oh, it's very pretty honey, just give me a minute to finish speaking to Aunty Riza and I'll come and look at it properly." Gracia called to her daughter, her tone of voice switching almost instantaneously. "Oh, Riza? Elicia wants to say hello." There was a few scraping sounds as the phone was past into smaller hands.

"Hi, aunty Riza." Said a shy voice. Riza smiled. Elicia was one of the boldest three year olds Riza had ever met, but for some reason, she was exceptionally shy on the phone.

"Hello Elicia." Riza replied gently. There was a small giggle and the patter of little feet as Elicia handed her mother the phone.

"I swear I'll never understand that child." Gracia stated absently, amusement in her voice. "Right down to business. I'm so sorry Riza, on behalf of my idiot of a husband." Riza laughed in response.

"It's alright, really. I'm used to his insane plans now." She replied.

"Still, of all of his plans, this has to be one of the worst. Roy can't have taken to the idea!" the older woman cried.

"No, he's sleeping off a hangover right now." Riza replied. Gracia groaned.

"I am going to kill him. Anyway Riza, you and Roy should come round for dinner tonight, my way of apologising." Gracia asked. Riza smiled.

"Yes, that would be lovely."

"Great. I'll see you both at seven then."

"Okay. Good bye Gracia, see you then."

"Take care Riza." Riza smiled and replaced the phone on the cradle. At least that was something to look forward to. She glanced at the clock on the wall. There wasn't much time. Jumping up, Riza made her way to the shower, deliberately avoiding the small piece of paper on the floor.

* * *

The park wasn't overly crowded at half past eleven on a Saturday morning, but still Riza was having trouble spotting her contact. Which was rather ironic actually when she thought about it.

"Riza!" called a voice behind her. Riza turned and smiled as two figures made their way up to her.

"Hi Roxanne." The dark haired woman grinned, flicking her perfectly straight hair over one shoulder. She gestures to the woman beside her.

"This is Marguerite. You'll probably want to talk to her as well so I asked her to come along." Marguerite smiled and held out her hand.

"It's nice to meet you." Riza smiled politely in return shaking the woman's hand. Roxanne grinned.

"Riza you look so great! I love your skirt!" she stated. Riza frowned and looked down at her appearance. She did not look great. Her hair was still slightly damp from the shower and she wore a simple long black skirt and a long sleeved green top. Roxanne's hair was as perfect as it has been the night before, except that the beaded outfit had been replaced by a short pleated white skirt and a short sleeved roll necked top that hugged her figure perfectly. Marguerite had midlength red hair that was in perfect ringlets. She wore silver sandals and a blue knee length dress that suited her petite frame perfectly. No, Riza definitely did not look great.

"And you think I'm being fake." Riza's head snapped up to meet eyes with Roxanne. The dark haired woman raised her eyes. "You don't think much of yourself do you?" Riza sighed. She'd forgotten how good at reading people this woman was.

"I definitely don't look great. Especially compared to both of you." Riza replied. Marguerite snorted.

"Well if you had spent three hours doing your make up like Roxy, there's no way you wouldn't look good." The red head stated with a laugh. Roxanne scowled at her friend before turning back to Riza.

"It's our job to look flawless. Believe me, underneath all this I look a state. I would much rather be a natural beauty like you." Riza stared at her in shock. A Natural beauty? That definitely wasn't a how she would describe herself.

"Besides." Roxanne continued. "I'm sure Mr tall, dark and smouldering thinks you're gorgeous even though you don't believe it." Roxanne added with a wink, causing Riza to blush.

"Tall, dark and smouldering?" Marguerite questioned.

"She's got a total hunk head over heels in love with her." Roxanne replied.

"Damn, the pretty ones have all the luck!" Marguerite moaned.

"Can we get down to business please?" Riza asked, feeling completely embarrassed about the conversation. Both girls looked sheepishly back at her.

"Right, sorry." Roxanne mumbled, "Okay, Roland Tanner, Matthew Waterson and Simon Keel. All three were customers of ours." She stated.

"Roland Tanner was, if you excuse my language, a bastard." Marguerite stated. "Really violent guy. He liked it rough; I've still got marks where he hit me." Riza stared at her in horror.

"He hit you?" she stated in anguish. The red head nodded.

"Inflicting pain turned him on. That's the last time I ever had anything to do with him. Anyway, the night before he died, he was with Leanne, tiny little thing. He strangled her until she passed out, then just... continued. That was the last straw of course; he was barred from ever coming near any of us again. Not that it mattered."

"Matt was on the same lines." Roxanne replied. "I only had him once when Crystall couldn't make it, but that was enough. Complete junky, didn't know in from out when he was high. The morning before he was killed, he made a huge scene in the club while away with the fairies. Hit a few customers, even gave Helena a shiner that lasted two weeks."

"I say they had it coming." Marguerite added, receiving a nod from her friend.

"What about the last one, Simon Keel?" Riza asked. Both girls' faces softened.

"Poor thing. Simon was a lovely man, such a sweet guy." Marguerite commented. Roxanne nodded.

"Yes. His wife was a complete bitch, sleeping with anyone who would have her, then demanding money off him for her shopping trips. He just needed company, preferring to talk to us rather than anything else. But he got into money problems. Two days before he died, he had some sort of argument with Luigi. He threatened to expose this place for what it really is."

"Empty threat, I know many military officers who use my services." Muttered Marguerite. Riza frowned at the statement, but said nothing, allowing Roxanne to continue.

"Anyway, Luigi was hardly worried. But still, two days later poor Simon ends up dead."

"So basically, you're looking for someone who is connected with the sugar bowl." Marguerite said with a smile. Riza laughed at the opened ended statement. She stopped walking and looked at both girls.

"Thank you so much, for all of your help." She stated. Roxanne smiled.

"It's no problem."

"Hey! Do you want to go for lunch?" Marguerite asked with a smile, Roxanne nodding enthusiastically. Riza hesitated.

"No, I'm sorry, I really don't have time." She replied, turning away.

"Riza, wait, please." Roxanne called. Riza turned and gazed at the dark haired woman.

"It's just so great to talk to someone... different. I mean, all we do is work, crash out in the day, then get up for work once more. It will just be nice to spend some time with a person who is not going to talk about eyelash curlers or bed sheets. I know you probably don't understand but..."

"No... No, I do understand." Riza replied quietly. She encompassed both girls in her gaze before replying

"Yes, I'd love to come for lunch."

"Great!" cried Marguerite, "I know this amazing little French place, they serve the best pastries and the iced coffee is to die for!" Roxanne rolled her eyes.

"You wouldn't know it to look at her, but she eats like a horse. So" She continued, linking arms with Riza as they walked out of the park.

"Tell me everything about tall, dark and smouldering."

**A/N: let me know what you think.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thank you so very much to everyone who took the time to review the previous chapter. I hope everyone who is following the story enjoys this chapter. **

**Chapter 9**

Roy frowned and stared at the clock. It was almost half past three. Riza had been gone for most of the day; even though she had promised him she would only be out for a few hours. He couldn't help but worry slightly. He knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself, and he also knew that she would be exceptionally annoyed if she could see him fretting over her ware bouts. But he just couldn't help it, especially with this new serial killer on the loose. However, it had given him a rare opportunity to think. He could never sleep properly while suffering a large hangover and thinking was one of the few things he could do that required little concentration yet occupied him enough to allow him not to focus upon his ailments. That was when, in the back of his mind, an idea began to form. He had no idea where this idea had come from, or when it had occurred to him, but now the idea had become a plan. And slowly the plan was almost becoming a challenge. Just at that moment, he heard the unmistakable sound of the front door of his apartment opening. Knowing it could only possibly be one person, Roy jumped up from where he had been lying in a heap on the sofa and moved towards the sound. Sure enough, he found Riza hanging up her coat on the peg by the door. Roy leant against the doorway, setting his face into an annoyed glare, ready for when she turned around. However, the look didn't stay for very long. As soon as Riza turned around, she smiled so brightly at Roy that he found it impossible not to smile in return. Riza strode up to him and hugged him tightly.

"Hey. How are you feeling now?" she asked, her voice muffled in his shirt. Roy smiled as he held on to her.

"Not too bad now. Had a good day?" Riza drew away from him and smiled widely once more.

"I really really have." She replied, happiness evident in her voice. Roy smiled at her before leaning in to kiss her. He could barely remember the last time he had seen her smile like that, and while he was slightly put out that he had not been the cause of such merriment, he was simply glad that she was able to smile like that. He drew back from her, watching her re open her eyes and smile once again.

"Oh, before I forget, we're having dinner at Gracia's tonight. We need to be there at seven." Riza turned, and broke free of Roy's grip, automatically walking to his empty plate and cup in order to tidy the place up. Roy yawned.

"That sounds good. I could do with some of Gracia's cooking tonight, I'm starving."

"That's probably because you spent most of last night emptying your dinner in the street." Riza called from the kitchen. Roy winced, vague memories of those indiscretions flooding back at Riza's words. She returned from the kitchen and raised her eyebrows at his expression.

"Sorry." He uttered, walking back to face her. Riza smiled.

"It's alright." Roy drew her close and kissed her neck softly.

"No it's not." He mumbled as he continued his actions, causing Riza's eyes to flutter close and her body relax. He kissed his way slowly up to her ear before whispering

"What can I do to make it up to you?" Riza sighed heavily, pulling away.

"As good as that does sound, we don't have time. I need a shower, and to change before we go out." She began to walk away when Roy stopped her, his arms fastening around her waist.

"You could shower here." he whispered, sending shivers down her spine. Riza had to admit, the idea sounded exceptionally appealing, but now really wasn't a good time.

"I have no clothes." She replied sternly, attempting to break free from Roy's hold. However, his arms held her tightly.

"Just wear one of my shirts, that always looks damn good." He replied, causing Riza to laugh. Roy grinned, spinning her around.

"Almost as good as that red dress you were wearing last night." At the statement Riza froze, the blood draining from her face as memories of the morning flooded back to her. Noticing her reaction Roy peered at her closely.

"What wrong?" he asked his voice full of concern.

"Nothing." Riza replied, not meeting his eyes. Roy sighed and dropped his arms from her waist. Riza automatically turned and walked a few steps, absently trying to find something to distract her from the haunting memories.

"Why won't you talk to me?" asked a quiet voice from behind her. Riza turned slowly to look at Roy. She was touched at how concern and upset he was. She was instantly overwhelmed with guilt. She wanted to tell him, but it was her problem, nothing to do with him. Besides, she didn't want to worry him unnecessarily, considering he tended to overreact where she was concerned. So instead she pushed her anxieties down and walked back over to her lover, kissing him gently.

"There's nothing to tell. I'm fine." Roy continued to look concerned. He knew she was lying, he could always tell when she was. But he also knew that she was an exceptionally private person, and pushing her into telling him something when she didn't want to would make things worse rather than better. So instead he pushed his worries aside and smirked at Riza.

"So, where did we land on the shower idea?" he asked.

* * *

Riza strode rapidly down the street, a rather amused flame Alchemist trailing after her.

"So how long are you planning on not talking to me for?" Roy called to her. Riza narrowed her eyes but refused to open her mouth or turn around. She simply continued to walk. Roy chuckled to himself.

"We're not that late Riza." At this comment the blonde spun around and glared at him.

"It's almost half past seven Roy, we really are late, and it's all your damn fault." She spat back at him, before turning and continuing to make her way towards the Hughes' residence. Roy jogged to catch up with her.

"It was totally worth it though. And don't even bother to deny it because I _know _you think so too." He stated smugly. Riza turned a violent shade of red and glared at Roy but didn't deny the statement. Roy laughed loudly before throwing an arm around her shoulders and pulling her against him as they made their way to the Hughes' front door. Before they even had a chance to knock ,the door was thrown open, revealing a beaming Lieutenant Colonel Hughes.

"Hey there you two love birds!" he called merrily, causing both Roy and Riza to glare at him. He ignored the two officer's looks and ushered them inside the house. Riza automatically walked towards the kitchen with the intention of helping Gracia. As soon as she was out of ear shot, Roy grabbed his best friends by the arm and dragged him into the front room.

"Maes I need your help." He whispered quickly, making sure that he could still hear the sounds of the women in the kitchen. Maes grinned brightly at him.

"Of course buddy!" he cried, slapping Roy hard on the back causing the Alchemist to cough, "Anything you need." Roy straightened as quickly as possible, attempting to recover from his friend's actions.

"Well, I have a plan but..."

"Oh no, no way, no more plans!" Hughes replied, jumping back slightly. "I'm still paying dearly for the last plan you came up with Roy, there is no way I'm helping you with anything that you came up with!" Roy gave his friend an exasperated look.

"Maes, please, this is not going to be like last night. I really do need your help, it's urgent." He stated, attempting to keep the desperate tone from his voice. Maes frowned at the statement.

"Urgent?" he questioned, "Really? What's so urgent that you had to drag me in here to talk ab..." he trailed off and his eyes widened as his brain took a giant leap in his favourite direction. Roy backed away slightly, almost certain Maes was either going to hug him or explode, neither of which seemed particularly appealing. However before he could say anything, a voice asked.

"And what are you two doing?" Both men turned to see Riza and Gracia standing in the door way, Riza looking perplexed and Graicia slightly annoyed.

"Nothing." Roy replied a little too quickly, causing Riza to frown.

"Better be." muttered Gracia, causing her husband to flinch slightly. "Dinner's ready." She added before the two women turned and made their way towards the dining room. Roy began following when he caught sight of Maes. His friend's eyes were brimming with tears and a large smile plastered across his face. Roy shot him an odd look before shaking his head and turning away. Honestly, what was going on in his friend's head? More to the point, how on earth had he ended up with such a strange best friend in the first place?

* * *

The two figures sat on either side of the table, each of them surveying the other, watching for any sign that the other was speaking anything but the truth.

"So we have an agreement then?" The speaker received a nod in reply.

"And you won't back down?" the speaker questioned. The other frowned, annoyed at the question.

"I gave you my word didn't I?" it was the other's turn to nod now.

"So we are in agreement." Edward stated, leaning forward on the table before continuing. "I'll tell you what happened to my automail and you will tell me what the hell the sugar bowl is and why I can't go there." Winry smiled slightly and nodded.

"Go ahead then." She stated, motioning for him to speak. Ed hesitated.

"You won't throw a wrench at me?" He asked tentatively. The blonde girl frowned at him.

"That was never part of the deal." She growled. Ed flinched, scratching his head nervously.

"Ummm... okay." He began, keep his eyes firmly fixed on the floor, "we were sort of attacked." He stated lamely.

"Attacked... alright... continue." Winry managed through gritted teeth. Ed winced. He could practically see her mind calculating which of the many implements of her collection would create the most damage at this distance. He took in a deep breath before continuing.

"We... sort of found out that it was...by the serial killer who's terrorising Central."

"SERIAL KILLLER!" shrieked Winry, jumping out of her chair. Edward instantly hopped over the back of his own chair, placing it in front of him for the small amount of protection it might give him.

"EDWARD ELRIC ARE YOU JUST LOOKING FOR TROUBLE NOW! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!" she yelled, her voice reaching heights that Edward hadn't previously know existed.

"He didn't want to kill me!" he shouted back, "He just wanted to give a message to the military." Winry opened her mouth in order to counter his words; however she paused as a large banging shook the wall. Clearly they had disturbed people in the room next to them. Winry sighed and slid back into her chair. Edward decided it was probably safe to come out from behind the chair. There was a moment of silence before.

"So... are you going to tell me about the sugar bowl now?" From behind her hand, Winry smiled devilishly. _Well, I may as well have some fun with this, _she thought to herself.

* * *

"But why not!" Roy whined, attempting to drag Riza down the street. Riza rolled her eyes.

"For the last time, because I'm tired and I cannot get any sleep at your place. Besides, it's Saturday night and I never stay on a Saturday night." Roy was just about to offer an alternative idea when Riza kissed him roughly. However, it was short lived as she soon pulled away.

"See you on Monday." She whispered against his lips before turning and walking towards her apartment.

"Riza!" Riza groaned and turned around to stare at Roy, her eyebrows raised.

"I love you." Riza smiled

"I love you two." She whispered quietly, causing Roy to smile at her. He blew her a kiss before turning and walking away. Riza sighed. He was far too good to her, she thought as she made her way back to her apartment. She yawned as she opened the door. She had spent most of the night before making sure that Roy didn't throw up in his sleep and choke to death. It would be good to get a decent night's sleep. Just at that moment the phone rang. Riza sighed, dropped her purse on a chair and grabbed the receiver.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Riza, thank God, I've been trying to call you for like an hour!" Riza frowned.

"Marguerite? Is everything alright?" she asked worriedly.

"Yeah, of course, don't panic!" the other woman laughed. Riza frowned for a second. Why on earth would she be calling if it wasn't for an emergency? Hardly anyone except Roy or Gracia called her unless there was something specific to say.

"Anyways, Riza, you will never, ever, guess what I saw today. I was talking to Roxy and Helena, well more like listening to Helena blab about that guy of hers, not that I care considering that he's about forty and looks like a tramp, but he's nicer than the last guy she picked up. Honestly, I'd rather be single than bring home the ones she does, talk about low standards. But beggars can't be choosers right? They can't all be tall dark and smouldering. Well, I'd rather have tall blonde and chiselled, but that's just me. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, so Roxy, Helena and I were standing outside SB when who happens to pull up..." Riza smiled to herself as she took the phone and flopped on to the couch. She had a feeling this would take a while. And while she would have normally been rather aggravated at someone taking up all of her evening by chatting on the phone, she was actually rather looking forward to this conversation.

* * *

"Damn you, you stupid bitch!" Hissed the voice as it paced the room, shoes wearing away at the carpet. Stopping its pacing, the figure slammed its fists upon the small table, sending a vase of white roses shattering to the floor.

"Why have you not told you precious, murdering Colonel, you useless slut? Or does he not care? Is that it? That's because you're too good for him. Not that you act like it, parading around in filthy places, consorting with whores and making yourself just as cheap as them! It's disgraceful!" The 

figure stopped pacing and stared out of the window, taking deep breaths in order to regain a sense of calmness.

"It's alright; it's going to be alright. When I have you, I will make sure that Lieutenant Hawkeye is never mistaken for a common prostitute, is never taken advantage of and is always, _always_ loved." The figure retraced its steps, picking up a flower and tracing it's petals with pale finger tips.

"Yes." Murmured the voice, "He's so far beneath you. Not good enough. But I need him. After all, there's got to be something for me to play with when I'm done." and with that the flower was reduced to a crumpled heap, petals slowly drifting towards the floor, like tears of sadness lost in the wind.

**A/N: Please review with what you think. **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thank you to all my reviewers and supporters! Please enjoy the chapter. **

**Chapter 10**

"Wow... that is the damn cutest story I have ever heard!" Marguerite cried, causing Riza's face to flush slightly at embarrassment.

"I told you so. Tall dark and smouldering is completely head over heels in love with you Rizzy. He would have ruined his career for you. That is if you had let him. Just shows the two of you are meant to be together. " Roxy stated, taking a small sip of her drink.

"Yes, but it took a considerable amount of planning to get the two of them together in the first place. They are both ridiculously stubborn." Maria stated with a grin, causing Riza to glare at her. It was Sunday evening and the four of them were sitting in Riza apartment. Riza had quickly become fast friends with both Marguerite and Roxanne, and it appeared that Maria would soon follow suit. They were all getting along well. Marguerite drained her glass and sighed.

"I need more cosmo." She stated, grabbing the jug that was on the table. Roxy raised her eyes in alarm at the volume of alcohol her friend was steadily making her way through. She turned to Riza.

"Sure you don't want any?" she asked. Riza shook her head, smiling.

"No, I'm fine; I'm not a big drinker."

"That sort of surprises me." Marguerite said, settling back on her chair, a now full glass in her hand, "I mean, I swear if I was in the military I'd need the alcohol to cope!"

"Alcohol lowers inhibitions; it's not a good idea to rely upon it as a soldier." Maria stated. Roxy sighed.

"Unfortunately, that occasionally helps in our line of work." She commented sadly. Sensing the mood change she glanced up and smiled.

"But it's not all that bad. You've got do what you've got to do right? I mean, we all do things that we don't like all time because we need to." She stated.

"Yup, I'm with you on that." Marguerite added.

"All in the name of duty." Maria stated, agree with two.

"Yes. For duty." Riza stated quietly more to herself than anyone else. A small smile worked its way across her features at the words as her mind reflected upon a promise she had made long ago. Roxanne frowned.

"Why do I have a feeling those words had a double meaning?" she asked slyly. Riza jumped, not expecting her to notice. She shrugged not meeting her friend's eyes. Roxy laughed.

"You are such a hopeless romantic!" Riza frowned.

"I am not a hopeless romantic" she stated indignantly.

"Oh come off it Rizzy, we all know you are. You just hide it under that cold exterior." Marguerite stated with a grin. She glowered at her friends, causing them all to laugh. Riza smiled at their reactions. It was comforting to be around people who understood her so easily.

* * *

On the other side of town, Roy mustang sat on a stool by the bar, a vein in his head twitching noticeably. Well, noticeably to everyone apart from the man currently sitting next to him, who also happened to be the source of his aggravation.

"Maes." He stated through gritted teeth, "Would you kindly shut up." The lieutenant Colonel pouted.

"But I'm so happy!" Maes whined. Roy sighed, his frustration only increasing.

"I understand that, but do you think you could possibly be happy without having to tell me how happy you are every three seconds?" he asked, a slight pleading edge to his voice. Maes frowned and turned back to his drink. Roy almost sighed in relief as silence descended between the two. He looked around the bar casually, attempting to ignore his friend who was now staring at him with a manic grin attached to his face. As he passed his eyes around the bar, an attractive woman with long blonde hair caught his eye and smiled. He looked away. Now he had the most beautiful woman in the world, he had no need to even respond to the looks other women gave him. Roy's thoughts were interrupted as he was almost knocked from his chair as a Maes grabbed him from behind, pulling him into a violent embrace.

"Maes!" he almost screamed as his friend clutched him tightly

"Oh Roy I'm so happy!" his friend cried, attempting to keep tears of joy from flowing down his face. Roy resigned himself to being strangled and silently wished for the evening to end.

* * *

"I hate Monday's" Roy growled to himself as he stared at the mountain of paperwork that had accumulated over the weekend.

"Hey chief, you do realise that the phone's been ringing for about ten minutes right?" Havoc asked.

"Yes I am aware of that Second Lieutenant." Roy replied as he pulled a few sheets of paper towards him and began signing them without really reading them.

"Aren't you going to answer it Sir?" Fuery asked timidly.

"No." Roy replied shortly. He knew exactly who was on the other end of the line. It was the same person that had been calling him for the last hour. He would have to survive the whole of his lunch hour with Hughes as it was, he did not need any more conversations. His subordinates all exchanged an exasperated look as they attempted to concentrate on their work despite the shrill ringing of the telephone. Roy gazed at the mess that had once been his desk and wondered what on earth all of these documents were for. He decided to ignore the daily stack of paperwork in order to concentrate on what may prove to be more interesting material. He reached out and picked up a folder that was lying on the corner of the desk. He opened it, and began reading the content. A frown began to work its way across his features, one that only got deeper with the more he read. He looked up as he heard the door click open and First Lieutenant Hawkeye walked in.

"Hawkeye, in need to speak to you now." He called. Riza frowned at the rather brisk tone he used, but walked into his office, closing the door behind her.

"What is this Lieutenant?" he asked, gesturing towards the folder. Riza hesitated. She imagined something like this might happen, although she hadn't expected Roy to be this annoyed.

"They are statements regarding the serial killer case Sir."

"Yes I can see that Lieutenant. However, you didn't mention any statements when we returned from our investigation. When exactly did you manage to get these?" Roy asked, attempting to keep his voice as neutral as possible. He wasn't angry that she had managed to get the information; on the contrary, what he had read was extremely helpful. It was more of the fact that she had neglected to inform him that she had retrieved them. Considering that they were from employees of _the sugar bowl_, he also couldn't help but wonder what she was doing when she had obtained them. Noticing Riza's hesitation in answering the question, he couldn't help but wonder what was going on. Then it dawned on him.

"That's why you were out all day Saturday." He stated. Riza lowered her eyes, unable to meet his gaze.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Roy cried. "Do you realise how dangerous that was? You have no idea who these people are; they could be accomplices to the serial killer!"

"I thought I was doing my job Sir." Riza stated, attempting to keep her temper in control. Did he think she was incapable of gathering information?

"I don't remember spending your days off with common prostitutes being part of your job description." Roy snarled in return. Riza's eyes narrowed as anger coursed through her veins. How dare he say that! Before she could retort in any way, Roy had started speaking once more.

"On top of that, you neglected to tell me what you were doing. What if something had happened to you?" Riza couldn't take it anymore. He was coddling her again, not to mention under minding her capabilities as an officer.

"It would have seemed suspicious if you had come with me Sir. I was continuing our investigation and I do not have to inform you of every move I make." Riza stated through gritted teeth.

"I beg to differ Hawkeye."

"Stop doing that!" Riza yelled, startling both herself and Roy by her exclamation. She was normally so in control of herself, but he had pushed her over the edge.

"Stop confusing our working and romantic relationship! I don't have to tell you every move I make and I don't need you protecting me!" A hurt look crossed Roy's features, making Riza cringe slightly. The words were far too harsh, she hadn't thought about what she was saying before she said it.

"I think you are the one who is doing that Riza." Roy stated softly, "You push me away; you keep me in the dark. You still hide behind our working rules even though you don't have to anymore." Riza stared at him, the words striking her in a way that she wasn't sure was possible. Did he really not understand her? What right did she have to burden him with every small problem, everything she kept inside? He had enough to deal with; he didn't need her worries and insecurities to bother him. But at the same time... did he really love her enough to want to know? She shunned that thought from her mind. It wasn't possible. He loved her, she knew that. But she had no right to burden him.

"If you question my methods as an officer Sir, then perhaps you should consider finding yourself a new aide." She whispered, before turning and swiftly walking out of the room, allowing the door to close behind her. Roy stared after her. What on earth had just happened? He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. What was he meant to do now? As he gazed around the room for inspiration, he noticed a small pile of paper's on the right hand side of his desk. He cursed and grabbed a pen, frantically signing them, wondering if this day could get any worse.

* * *

Riza fought the tears that were threatening to fall. Now was not the time to get emotional.

"Hey, Hawkeye, someone from the front desk brought this for you." Havoc called. Noticing her expression, he frowned.

"Is everything alright?" he asked worriedly, crossing the room to meet her. Riza steeled her emotions and turned her neutral face towards Havoc.

"Yes of course, I'm fine. What did they bring?" she asked.

"I left it on your desk." Havoc stated, still peering at her carefully. He was almost certain that she was definitely not fine, but he knew better than to press the issue. Riza gave Havoc a small smile before walking to her desk. She was puzzled to find a square black box sitting there. She continued to stare at it, not quite sure what it was. There was no card or return address, nothing that would give any clue where it had originated from. Seeing no sign of tampering of any dangers Riza slipped her fingers underneath the flaps and took off the lip. She almost dropped it in shock. The box was filled with white rose petals. Her heart began racing as she saw a card placed right in the centre of the flowers, a satin blue ribbon framing the edges. She reached out a shaking hand and turned the card over, knowing there would be something written there.

_Spending your time with little whores now you pretty little bitch? Tut tut what will he say? But then again, you're not telling him about crawling around in the dirt with that filth are you? Don't worry my dear Lieutenant, all that will soon change when I get what I want. _

Riza resisted the urge to scream, pulling the card to her chest as if to block out the words. Whoever this was, they were now not only following her, but knew how she spent her time. And they wanted something. That must be Roy; there was nothing else that they could gain by threatening her. Riza was breathing heavily, trying to calm herself. This was really scaring her now. The flowers were coming more frequently, and she had no more clues to who this person was.

"Well now, aren't you popular?" Riza whipped around, dread pooling in her stomach. Roy was standing before her, his eyes filled with anger and pain. His eyes widened and he saw what she was clutching. Riza opened her mouth to say something, but Roy simply walked past her, marching out of the office and slamming the door shut behind him.

* * *

Maes stared over at his friend from the seat opposite. He really didn't understand him. Everything had gone perfectly, yet here he was sitting at the table staring into his coffee mug as if he was about to go to a funeral. There was only one thing that could have happened.

"What did you fight about this time?" he asked wearily. Roy started from his thoughts and looked at his best friend as if he had just noticed he was there. He sighed in a melancholy fashion.

"It's nothing Maes. Well, nothing out of the ordinary." Hughes frowned at the statement. Nothing out of the ordinary? That didn't sound good. Of course, he knew that Riza and Roy had ridiculous arguments, but who didn't? He was married and he still had the occasional disagreement. But the point was that all you had to do was talk about it, apologise and move on. Every healthy relationship had its ups and down. But then again, this was Roy and Riza. He had a tendency to take everything she said to heart, and she was hardly the most open person in the world. Yet even someone passing them in the street could see how deeply they loved one another. There were just some things that the two of them needed to work through. He looked at his watch and sighed.

"Well, whatever it is buddy, I'm sure you two will work it out. You always do." He stated giving his friend a reassuring smile. Roy smiled half heartedly in return, hoping that that was the truth.

* * *

Riza was pacing Roy's office nervously. He had left the office that morning and he hadn't returned. His lunch break was now almost over, so he had to return soon. He had too. Riza attempted to stop pacing, but she couldn't. Her nerves were still shot from the package this morning. That and the fact that Roy assumed an admirer had sent her the flowers... Riza's thoughts were cut short as the door to the office clicked open and her superior officer walked in. He raised his eyes to meet hers and froze for a moment. Then he silently walked over to the desk and dropped a bag on the table. Riza frowned to herself. He had been shopping? She stopped that train of thought abruptly. It was not what she needed to be thinking about. An awkward silence fell upon them. Riza shuffled her feet nervously then began.

"Roy... about earlier I'm sorry. I was just... stressed. I'm sorry." She muttered, not meeting his eyes. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him move until he was standing in front of her.

"You're lying. I can tell. There's something you're not telling me." Riza didn't deny it. She hated lying to him. Roy sighed in frustration

"Fine, forget this morning. If you're not going to tell me then that's fine." Riza cringed at the anger in his voice.

"Roy, I don't know where the flowers came from, I promise." She said, bluntly turning the conversation to what was really bothering him. Roy sighed closing his eyes. He didn't want to have this conversation. He hated fighting with her, but he didn't understand her at times. Riza had never been one to let people in easily, but he thought that she would trust him enough to let him in. In fact it hurt that she still didn't trust him enough. If she couldn't trust him then there was nothing he could do for her, despite the fact that there was obviously something bothering her. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"Look Riza, if you can't trust me with whatever's bothering you then at le..." was cut short when without warning Riza stepped forward and threw her arms around him, burying her head into his military jacket. Roy was so stunned at her action that he didn't know what to do. He knew that while she appeared self assured and confident, she held a lot of insecurities within her. She kept them at bay, even towards him, making sure that people never saw anything but her perfect soldier act. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly. She shivered in his arms causing him to worry.

"Riza, you're shaking, what's wrong?" he whispered. She didn't reply, but only clutched him tighter. There was silence for a moment as Roy gently rocked her, attempting to keep her calm.

"I don't know who sent them to me, I'm not lying." She said, her voice muffled by the heavy fabric of his coat.

"I know, I'm sorry." He replied, kissing the top of her head. He was attempting to remain calm and not let her hear the panic in his voice. Something had scared her. And if it had scared Riza, it was definitely worth worrying about. He moved back slightly, allowing him to reach out and tip her face up to meet his gaze.

"You look tired." He whispered softly, caressing her cheek as he did so. Riza nodded, leaning back towards him once more. They stayed like that for a moment before Riza reluctantly pulled away.

"We have work we need to be doing." She stated. Roy smiled at the familiar sentence, but his face turned serious as he regarded her once more. Seeing his expression she smiled slightly.

"I'm fine Roy, seriously" he moved forward to protest when the phone rang. Roy shot the offending object an aggravated glare before turning his attention back to Riza. She looked back at him sympathetically before saluting and heading out of the door. Roy sighed as he picked up the receiver, attempting to suppress the feeling that something important had just gone unsaid.

**A/N: Please review. **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! **

**Chapter 11**

"Okay, I sort of understand why I'm here." Edward Elric stated, his hands folded behind his head as he spoke. Alphonse sighed heavily. His brother knew _exactly _why they had to be here. This conversation was getting them nowhere.

"And I understand why Al has to be here." Ed continued, "But what I don't understand is why you have to be here Winry." Winry glared at Edward, her eyes turning dark in an instant. Edward shrunk back in his chair slightly at the look he received.

"Well that's simple shortmetal. It was in case you got damaged on the way to headquarters." Mustang stated, walking in to the room with First Lieutenant Hawkeye in tow.

"WHAT!" Edward screamed, jumping out of his chair. Before he could say anything further, Winry smacked him over the head with a wrench, effectively silencing him and causing him to fall back in to his chair.

"And that's also a bonus." Roy remarked as the rest of his subordinates and Maes joined them in the office.

"What's with the early morning meeting chief?" Havoc asked, stifling a yawn as he spoke. Roy strode over to his desk, sitting down in his chair and surveying the group.

"After our investigations concerning the serial killer last week, it seems that we finally have a lead on the case. All three victims were not only regular customers to the _sugar bowl_ but were also in some way or form, threats to it." Roy stated.

"So obviously we are looking for someone who has connections to the _sugar bowl_." Edward interrupted in a bored tone. Roy glared at him but made no comment.

"The owner?" Havoc questioned, acting as if he hadn't heard Ed's statement. Roy shook his head.

"He has a strong alibi for all three incidents, not to mention that he was out of the country at the time that the women were killed. There's no way it was him."

"What about an employee?" Fuery questioned hesitantly. Again Roy shook his head.

"By the way those men were killed; there was no way a woman could have done it. One of the three men killed was a body builder, well muscled. I doubt even Hawkeye would have been able to hack him to pieces." Roy stated send a smirk in Riza' direction. Hawkeye frowned at the comment, but stayed silent.

"It was definitely a guy." Edward stated, causing all eyes to turn to him, "I could tell by the build." Roy nodded in confirmation.

"So it looks like we're back to square one." Havoc stated with a sigh that abruptly turned into a yawn.

"Oh I wouldn't say that." Hughes stated. Everyone turned their attention to the Lieutenant Colonel. Maes looked straight at Roy.

"There were bouncers on the door. Huge guys. I'm sure they were more than capable of causing the damage we saw on the victims." Roy grinned back up at his friend.

"Of course!" He exclaimed. He wheeled around and stared at his subordinates.

"Havoc, Falman, Fuery and Breda, I need you to find out the names of all the bouncers employed there, and I need it today." The four men stood up and saluted before leaving the room to begin their task.

"Hughes, do you think that contact of your might be able to help us?" Roy asked, turning to his best friend.

"Wouldn't hurt to ask." Hughes stated with a shrug. Roy turned to Hawkeye.

"Do you think you can get us any inside information?" He questioned. Riza nodded.

"I'll see what I can do. I may not be able to get it until tomorrow though." She replied. Roy nodded, but before he could say anything else a voice interrupted

"And what am I meant to do?" Edward asked scathingly. Roy swivelled in his chair and stared at Edward for a moment, as if contemplating an answer.

"Stay out of trouble." Roy replied bluntly. The Fullmetal alchemist opened his mouth to retort when there was a knock at the door and Havoc's head came into view.

"Hey Hawkeye there's a guy on the phone for you. He says it's urgent." Riza frowned but quickly turned and saluted Mustang before following Havoc into the outer office. Roy just stared dumbfounded at her retreating back. Edward sniggered.

"Something you should be worrying about?" He jeered.

"Shut up Ed, what would you know about relationships?" Winry stated before once again smacking him over the head with a wrench.

* * *

Riza took the phone that Havoc offered to her.

"Hello, Lieutenant Hawkeye speaking."

"Lieutenant? It's Adrian here. We have a bit of a problem." Riza paled slightly at this as, panic seeping through her mind. What could have happened to black Hayate? He had been fine when she dropped him off at the kennels that morning!

"Do you think you could come down here?" Adrian asked.

"Yes, of course, I'll be there as soon as I can." Riza stated. She placed the receiver back on the cradle, her hand shaking slightly as she did so. Havoc frowned at her.

"Hawkeye, you okay?" he asked. Riza simply marched past him towards her superior's office and knocked at the door. Hearing the Colonel's affirmative reply, Riza walked through the door. Roy and Ed were glaring daggers at each other, while Alphonse and Winry simply looked awkward at being caught in the middle of a familiar dispute. As soon as Riza stepped through the doorway, Roy's attention was immediately drawn to her. He frowned slightly at her appearance. Although to a casual observer she looked calm and composed, tension was radiating through her body while a worried look gleamed in her eyes. The phone call had obviously not brought pleasant news.

"Sir, may I have permission to take my break now? There is somewhere I need to be." Riza asked, with an almost desperate edge to her voice. A look passed swiftly across Roy's face, gone almost as soon as it has appeared. But Riza had caught it and found herself fuming at what she had seen. It was jealous, tinged with fear. Riza couldn't believe this. They had already had this conversation, why as he so paranoid! Did he really not trust her? However, now was not the time to discuss this.

"There's something wrong with Hayate Sir, they want me to go down there." She stated before Roy could question her further. A guilty look passed across Roy's face as soon of the words were out of her mouth.

"Yes, of course Lieutenant, take as long as you need." He stated his voice soft and apologetic. Riza allowed him to glimpse a small reassuring smile before leaving the room.

"I hope black Hayate's alright." Winry said in a small voice. Roy sighed then picked up a file.

"I'm sure he will be Miss Rockbell, he's a tough dog." He replied. However, his thoughts were more concerned for the dog's master than anything else.

* * *

"Are you sure everything's fine now?" Riza asked, as she stroked a sleeping Black Hayate's form. Adrian and Jessica both nodded simultaneously.

"Yes. We were worried when we called you, he just couldn't seem to keep anything down. It didn't make sense; I mean we fed him exactly what he normally has right?" Adrian stated, turning to look at Jessica. The red head nodded vigorously.

"Yes, of course. It was about half an hour later I noticed he was looking rather sluggish. By the time we got him in here he took a turn for the worst." Adrian sighed and rubbed his temples.

"I just don't understand it. He got sick so quickly, then recovered just as fast. It makes no sense at all." He sighed and looked up at Riza apologetically.

"Sorry to have dragged you out of work in the middle of the day." Riza smiled in return.

"Its fine, I'm glad you did." She replied, scratching Hayate behind the ears. The dog twitched and whimpered happily, but didn't awaken. Riza smiled at the sleeping animal. In some strange manner 

it remained her of Roy when he slept. There was almost nothing that could wake him up. She turned and faced Adrian once more.

"Actually, since I'm here, I need to fill out the financial forms for next month." She stated. Adrian nodded and turned to Jessica who smiled.

"Of course, let's go." She stated, making her way towards the door.

"I'll monitor him closely for the rest of the day." Adrian called after her. Riza thanked him and made her way towards reception where Jessica was pulling out the forms.

"Here you go." She stated, stifling a yawn. She smiled sheepishly as she handed the forms over.

"Sorry." Riza grinned, picking up a pen.

"Long night?" she asked. Jessica groaned.

"My night job is killing me. I'm going to have to cut down on my hours." Riza frowned and looked up at her.

"You're working two jobs?" she questioned before returning to the forms. Jessica sighed.

"Yes, unfortunately. I've picked up some rather... err... expensive spending habits." She stated with a laugh, "But hopefully it's only for a little while longer. Then I won't need it anymore." Riza smiled and handed the completed forms to Jessica, who thanked her. Suddenly the receptionist frowned at the window.

"Hey, isn't that your Colonel?" she asked. Riza was about to comment that Roy was not 'her Colonel' when the exact meaning of the words took effect. Riza spun around just in time to see Roy walking through the door. Catching sight of her, Roy was instantly by her side, pulling her into his arms. He drew back slightly and stared down at her.

"Everything alright?" he asked softly. Riza smiled back up at him and nodded.

"Yes, he's going to be fine. It wasn't as bad as they thought." She replied. Roy smiled in return.

"Good. I was worried." And with that, he lowered his lips to her, kissing her gently.

"You guys are so damn cute!" Riza broke the kiss in an instant, her cheeks turning pink. She had completely forgotten they were in public. Roy seemed to have that effect on her. Whenever she stared into his eyes she forgot that anyone else existed. While she usually enjoyed the feeling, she was almost damning it now. Jessica grinned at the two of them before turning and looking at Riza.

"You know how lucky you are right?" she questioned. Riza nodded slightly before straightening up and breaking out of Roy's embrace. While their relationship was perfectly legal, it wasn't proper to flaunt it in public, especially as they were both on duty.

"I'll be back at five." She stated. Jessica nodded and bid the two farewell as Roy and Riza walked back into the street. Roy peered at her closely as they made their way back to headquarters.

"You sure you're okay?" He asked, concern evident in his voice. Riza smiled at him.

"Yes. I'm just relieved everything was alright. You really didn't need to come down here though." She replied.

"I was worried." Riza grinned

"About me or the dog?" she asked.

"The dog of course, why would I care about you!" Roy exclaimed, causing Riza to laugh. That is until Roy grabbed hold of her arm and slowly turned her to face him.

"Seriously though. I was worried." He muttered, tracing the side of her face with his gloved hands. Riza smiled, took his hand in hers and kissed it.

"You're sweet. But there is no need to be." she replied honestly. Roy smiled and took his hand that was still enclosed in hers as they continued to walk down the street. Riza turned and looked at Roy.

"Has there been any further information on the case?" she enquired. Roy sighed heavily.

"That's something we need to discuss when we get back." he stated, his tone now completely serious, "It seems we have a problem."

**A/N: sorry it's a shorter than normal chapter, but it's the appropriate place to stop. I'm hoping to get the next one up sooner than usual as well. **

**As ever, please review. **


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thank you to all my supporters and reviewers! As promised, a sooner update to make up for a short chapter last time.**

**Chapter 12**

"Well, basically, there are no bouncers." Maes stated. Riza blinked and turned to Roy, sending him a confused glance.

"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Edward. Roy sighed and sat down at his desk.

"It seems that the bouncers of the _sugar bowl_ are considered outside contractors. There is no record of them and they are paid upfront in cash. They are muscle for hire, paid to do anything that Luigi wants them to do. He's damn good at covering his tracks as well. We're having a hard time getting any names at all." Roy stated gloomily.

"So... what do we do now?" Alphonse asked timidly.

"We keep trying." Roy stated forcefully, as if trying to reassure himself more than anyone else. The rest of his team nodded, each one of their faces set in a look of determination. After all, what else could they possibly do?

* * *

Riza sighed listening to the incessant ringing on the other end of the phone. This was the last time she would try. From the other side of the room, Havoc swore loudly as he stubbed his toe on a filing cabinet that he was unable to see due to the large amount of records he was holding. Roy rushed out of his office at the sound, assuming that they had finally, after an entire morning of searching, uncovered a lead. Seeing the chaos that Havoc had created, Roy gritted his teeth in frustration before proceeding with a lecture. As Havoc seethed on the floor, Riza stood up, ready to put a stop to the impending argument, when a breathless voice stated.

"Hello, Roxanne here."

"Hey." Riza replied turning her back on to the scene.

"Rizzy! Sorry I didn't pick up sooner hun, but I was with a client." Roxanne stated with a laugh, "It was the weirdest thing, he wanted me to lick..."

"I don't want to know!" Riza interrupted loudly, her face turning bright red at the idea.

"Oh come on, it may give you some ideas of what you should try."

"I don't need any ideas like that!" Riza hissed, her face turning, if possible, an even brighter shade of red.

"Are you at work?" Roxy stated, amusement clear in her voice.

"Of course I am, why?" Riza asked.

"Is tall dark and smouldering staring at you now?" she asked, laughing as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Riza turned around to find not only Roy, but everyone else in the office staring at her.

"Why are you blushing?" Roy whispered at her. Riza growled and turned around once more as laughter filled her ears.

"That wasn't funny." She stated.

"It got him to look though. Sorry, I'll be serious now. What's up?" Roxy asked.

"I need your help again. Urgently." Riza stated her voice deadly serious.

"Of course, I have tonight off. Shall I meet you outside headquarters?" Roxanne asked.

"That would be great, thank you." Riza stated with a smile.

"No problem hun, I'll see you then. Oh, and Rizzy?"

"Yes?"

"Be careful of letter openers while having a quickie on the desk. Believe me." And with that the phone line went dead leaving Riza staring at it in absolute horror.

"You're blushing again." Riza nearly jumped out of her skin as Roy whispered in her ear. She whipped around to see him smirking at her.

"I think your going to have to repeat that conversation to me later Lieutenant, sounds rather interesting." And with that he walked back into his office, closing the door behind him. Riza sighed and flopped down on her chair once more. Why on earth was talking to that woman so exhausting? She smiled to herself. Although she would never tell, the desk idea in itself was rather appealing...

* * *

"Maes, I am going to tie you to a chair unless you SIT DOWN" Roy yelled. Hughes held up his hand in surrender, slowly sitting himself down in the chair across from Roy. However, he couldn't keep his leg from jiggling up and down with excitement. Roy gripped his hair in frustration

"Hughes..." He hissed warningly.

"Oh Roy, please just tell me! The suspense is killing me!" Maes exclaimed, jumping from his chair and slamming his hand on the desk.

"No." Roy replied, picking up a file and raising it up high, in order to block out his friend's figure. Maes slumped in defeat. As another idea crossed his mind, his head sprung up once more.

"Can I at least have a little peek..."

"No Maes." Hughes pouted, falling back into his seat.

"You know I would let you! In fact I..."

"Hughes." Maes looked up expectantly, only to find his best friend pulling on his white gloves. Maes sighed and picked up his work.

"You're no fun anymore." Hughes muttered under his breath as the two of them continued with their work.

* * *

The end of the day was drawing near and Mustang's subordinates were getting ready to leave. Havoc yawned and tapped Riza on the arm as a goodnight gesture. Riza sent him a strange look as she walked back towards Roy's office.

"Maes, GIVE IT BACK NOW!" She heard Roy yell.

"OUCH!! Alright, okay, here. Damn, Roy that really hurt, what if I had lost the use of my hand. This is my flash button pressing hand you know!" Hughes stated in a hurt tone. Riza suppressed the urge to laugh it the insane answer the Lieutenant Colonel gave. She cleared her throat and knocked at the door, causing both men to spin around. She raised an eyebrow at the pair.

"Am I missing something?" she asked. Roy smiled, walking over and kissing her softly.

"Not at all." He stated with a smile. Riza smiled in return at the sweet gesture. Until Maes bounded in front of her and made his way to the door.

"I'll leave you two love birds to it!" He called. Riza saluted at his retreating back while Roy just sighed at his best friend's strange behaviour. Riza turned around to face Roy. He grinned at her.

"I'll be a minute, just need to sort something out." He stated, moving back towards his desk in order to rearrange the mess of files that had been balancing there. Riza leaned against the door frame, simply watching Roy move.

"Oh, I nearly forgot, what was that phone call about?" Roy asked. Riza frowned for a moment, confused at the question. Then it dawned on her what he was asking. Her face turned red as she recalled her friend's words and realised where exactly she was standing. Roy looked up when he gained to response and frowned in confusion at seeing his girlfriend look so flustered. Noticing his stare, Riza turned away.

"It was nothing." She muttered.

"Come on, you know you can tell me, I'm curious." Roy pushed. Riza shook her head, keeping her gaze averted. Roy sighed and turned back to his papers, muttering

"Typical." Riza's head shot up as she caught his mutterings.

"What did you say?" Riza asked. Roy straightened, not meeting her eyes.

"Shall we go?" Roy asked. Riza folded her arms.

"What do you mean typical, Roy? Is there something you want to say?" Riza asked, her voice neutral and steady. Roy closed his eyes slowly.

"It doesn't matter Riza, let's just go." Riza however, did not move. Roy groaned.

"It's just that you don't seem to tell me anything anymore. I hate not knowing everything that happens Riza." Roy stated softly , moving to put his arms around her. Riza moved away from his grasp, turning her back on him.

"You don't trust me." Roy started suddenly. This wasn't going well.

"No, I never said that!" He cried, walking towards her

"That's why you assume that I'm cheating on you." Riza stated, her voice staying soft and emotionless. Roy couldn't believe this. He stopped short of reaching Riza.

"I've never said that Riza." He replied, attempting to keep his voice steady. "I just don't know what to do when you don't tell me things."

"I don't have to tell you everything. You can't control my life." She stated evenly.

"Damn it Riza, I'm not trying to control you! I love you, I care about you!" Roy yelled, losing his temper. He couldn't understand this. Why was Riza acting this way all of a sudden? Riza turned slowly, her eyes fixed on the ground.

"That's why you want to put me in a box and protect me from everything, keep me away from the world? Because you love me?" She whispered.

"Yes!" Riza's head shot up at the statement. Roy mentally kicked himself. He didn't mean it to sound that way at all.

"Don't you know anything about me?" Riza stated, her voice cracking slightly.

"No, I don't Riza!" Roy yelled, making her jump slightly at the volume of his voice.

"How am I meant to understand you if you won't talk to me! You have all these secrets, all these things that I don't understand. You didn't tell me about the interviews with those women, god knows where the hell those flowers came from..."

"Back to the flowers..." Riza muttered

"Yes, back to the damn flowers! God Riza, how do you think that looks to me?" Roy cried. Riza turned to look at him, hurt flicking across her face. How could he possibly say this to her? Before she could bite back the words, she countered with the first thing that flew into her mind.

"Don't you think it's me that should be worrying about cheating?" she hissed. Roy's eyes widened at the statement. He was certain that it would have hurt less if she had punched him. His eyes narrowed.

"So now you don't trust me? I risked everything for you, hell I would again and let your still worried that I'm going behind your back? What more do you want from me Riza?" Roy replied, gesturing widely. Riza stood stiffly in the doorway.

"I don't want anything, that's not what I meant..." she trailed off, shaking her head sadly. Roy stared at her for a moment before sighing heavily.

"You don't want anything from me huh?" he whispered, turning away. Riza's eyes widened at the pained voice he used. It sounded so unlike him that it was hard to believe that it was really her Roy speaking.

"You don't want me, and you've sure as hell proved you don't need me. You can't or don't trust me and you don't think that I love you..."

"I never said that Roy!" Riza cried, moving forward slightly, his statements alarming her.

"What are we even doing?" Roy murmured to himself. He slammed his hand on his desk in annoyance "There's no point in us even being together if all of this is true!" Roy stated. There was silence for a moment. Roy steadied his breathing, calming himself. There was no need to say such rash and stupid things...

"If that's what you want." Roy spun around as soon as he heard the whisper. But Riza was already by the door.

"Riza, no wait..." but she had left, slamming the door shut behind him. Roy stared in dismay as he realised what he had done.

* * *

Riza walked blindly through the corridors, her feet taking her towards the exit while her mind replayed the argument over and over in her head. She couldn't believe the things that she had said to him. But more importantly, she couldn't believe the things she had _not _said. Of course she trusted him, of course she needed him. She loved him far more than she ever thought was possible, but when he needed her to say it, she didn't. And now the most important person in her life was gone, probably forever. Even if she turned back right now and apologised, said everything that she should have done, there was no way in hell he would take her back. Who would possibly want her after everything that she had said to him? Her eyes blurred as she walked down the steps and into the street. She stood on the steps for a moment, in an attempt to control herself, to suppress the pain that was threatening to overwhelm her.

"Riza?" Riza turned slowly to her left to see Roxanne staring at her a concerned look on her face. Riza turned away as her friend rushed towards her. She needed to keep control, she needed to stay calm.

"Riza? Riza, what's happened?" Roxanne whispered, peering at her friend closely. Riza stayed silent, her body quaking as she struggled with everything she was feeling. Slowly, a steady stream of tears made their silent way down her cheeks as the past few minutes really hit her.

"Riza?" Roxy whispered softly, as Riza raised her hand to cover her traitorous eyes. Roxy stared at her for a moment before putting her arms around her friend. Riza stood rigidly for a moment, before leaning in closer, sobbing quietly in her friend's embrace.

* * *

Roy sat at his chair, staring off into noting. He couldn't believe what had just happened. He had driven the woman he loved more than life away from him. The argument had been petty and stupid, little things that could and should have been sorted out long ago. Roy put his head in his hand, while the other reached into the pocket of his military uniform. He pulled a small black velvet box out, squeezing it tightly in his hand as he allowed himself to be consumed by guilt.

**A/N: Hehe... Please don't kill me! **


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: My thanks to all who reviewed last time! Hope you all enjoy this, as there's not much more of the story left. **

**Chapter 13**

Crying did help at all. Riza knew that, but she hadn't been able to stop herself. She could fee Roxy staring at her out of the corner of her eyes as the two of them walked aimlessly through the streets. Riza wasn't exactly sure why they were simply wandering, but it was easier than talking about what had just happened. While Roxanne had not said anything yet, Riza was almost certain that she knew what was going on. Almost as if to prove her theory, Roxy suddenly stated

"It will get better. Just give it time." Riza nodded, but said nothing. She didn't _want _it to get better. She didn't want to get over Roy, move on just like she knew everyone was going to tell her to do. In the past few months she had realised that she really did not like being alone, despite what she had constantly insisted. More than that she wanted Roy, no one else. No one would ever be able to fill his place in her heart. But there was no chance of him coming back to her now. Roxanne's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Marguerite is going to meet us in a minute." Riza nodded. Then she stopped in the middle of the street. She stared up towards her friend.

"I need to go fetch black Hayate. Can the two of meet me there?" she asked. Roxy nodded

"Of course. But are you sure you're going to be okay over there my yourself?" she asked, her voice laced with concern. Riza sighed and smiled half heartedly.

"I'm not incapable of going to fetch my dog." She replied. Roxy laughed.

"I know. I know. I'll see you in five." Then with a wave of her hand she turned and started off down the street. Riza watched her go for a moment, her smile dropping. She turned on her heel and made her way slowly towards the kennels. This was going to be tough. Her emotions were hard enough to control at this moment; she had no idea if she was even going to be able to cope when she would have to face Roy in the morning. _That's what you get for having a relationship with your commanding officer she_ thought to herself sadly as she continued on her way.

* * *

"Brother, I really, _really _do not think this is a good idea." Edward sighed and turned around to face his brother. The suit of armour stared back at him apprehensively.

"Come on Al, we won't be there for too long. I only want to take a look that's all." Al hesitated, his hand scratching the back of his head nervously.

"Still, brother, I'm not sure that it's safe..." he began, before Ed interrupted him.

"It's only a few streets away from headquarters, so if anything happens it's not far for us to go to get help. But nothing is going to happen. All we are going to do is have a quick look around then go back, I promise." Suddenly the Fullmetal alchemist frowned

"Besides, it's not like I could do anything else. Not with _somebody _tagging along." Winry narrowed her eyes at the comment.

"The last time you walked down this street you had to drag me out here to fix your arm. I'm making sure you don't try and do anything stupid again." She replied. Ed sighed and began muttering to himself as he continued to walk. Winry smiled brightly up at Alphonse before following Edward. Al sighed and resigned himself to following the both of them. _Well, _he thought to himself, _at least if Winry's here, brother can't get into too much trouble. _

* * *

As the door of the kennel's opened, Jessica looked up from her desk and smiled as she saw who it was.

"Hey there Lieutenant Hawkeye." She greeted cheerfully. Riza attempted to smile, but failed miserably. Seeing the woman's expression, Jessica frowned.

"Is everything alright?" she asked worriedly.

"Yes, everything's fine." Riza responded in a neutral tone, keeping her eyes averted from the woman's face. Jessica frowned but didn't say anything.

"I'll just get Hayate for you." She stated kindly, walking into the room behind her. Riza sighed and leaned against the reception desk tiredly. The door clattering opening behind her caught her attention. However, before she could even turn around and see exactly who had come through the door, she was engulfed in a hug.

"Hey Rizzy." Marguerite whispered, hugging her tightly. Riza smiled as she hugged her friend in return.

"Hi." She responded softly. Marguerite released her quickly and smiled encouragingly at her.

"You know, we can get you good and drunk, that'll take the edge of it for the evening." She stated innocently. Riza couldn't help but laugh at the odd statement. Roxanne tutted.

"I swear that's your answer to everything." She muttered darkly.

"She's not the only one."Laughed a voice from behind them. Riza turned and smiled as Adrian and Jessica returned. Adrian handed her Hayate, who automatically started licking Riza's cheeks, almost as if he could tell she had been crying. Riza smiled softly at the animal in her hands.

"At least that made you feel better." Jessica stated with a smile. At the woman's statement Marguerite turned and looked at her.

"Have we met before?" She asked. Jessica started slightly, confused by the question.

"Ummm... I don't think so." She replied. "But I'm Jessica, nice to meet you." Marguerite nodded, but didn't say anything in return. Adrian turned his attention to Riza.

"Are you feeling alright Lieutenant Hawkeye?" He asked. Riza sighed. She was getting fed up with answering that question.

"Yes, I am fine." She replied.

"I hope that Colonel of yours is treating you right." Adrian stated sternly. Riza flinched at the statement. Roxy and Marguerite exchanged worried glances, yet before either could say a word, Riza spoke.

"The Colonel and I are no longer involved." She stated, with no hint of emotion. Riza paused the moment that the statement was out of her mouth. She didn't know why she had chosen that exact moment to speak. But then again, it was about time she started excepting what had happened.

"Well, I am sorry about that. But I have to say, I think you're better off without him. I mean, everyone knows he's a filthy murder. He's beneath someone like you." Adrian stated.

"What the hell! Adrian, what's wrong with you!" Jessica cried, hitting him on the arm. Riza said nothing, she simply turned and walked out of the door, allowing it to shut behind her. Roxy and Marguerite glared daggers at Adrian before turning and leaving.

"Wait!" Jessica cried. Marguerite continued to walk, but Roxy turned and looked at the woman.

"Tell her I'm sorry. I really hope she feels better. Adrian's a jerk; I really hope that she doesn't take what he said to heart." Roxy looked back at her for a moment, silently.

"Okay." She replied shortly, before turning and joining her friends outside. Riza and Marguerite were standing just outside, Hayate now standing patiently beside his master.

"Hey Riza, you okay?" Roxy asked.

"You want me to go beat the crap out of the two of them?" Marguerite asked. Riza shook her head slowly.

"No, don't there's no point. Besides, Jessica didn't do anything." Marguerite frowned, but then sighed heavily.

"Whatever. I can't really be bothered anyway. I'm so damn tired." Roxy turned and regarded her friend.

"Yeah, why were you so late anyway?" she asked. Marguerite groaned.

"You know Greg, that really pervy bouncer who stares at your rack instead of your face when he talks to you? Well he had this massive freak out just before I had to leave." Riza froze mid stride.

"Why?" Roxy asked.

"Well, he was acting fine all day, then the next thing I know he starts swearing and yelling at Larry. I have no idea why he started freaking out. I heard him say something about being tricked, like how dare they try and take the piss."

"What else?" Riza asked sharply. Worry was forming in her mind now. Marguerite frowned.

"Well, he ran off pretty quickly but as he went past I heard him say 'that bastard and his friends won't do this again'. It's pretty weird I mean... Riza, you okay?" But Riza was already gone, running back towards headquarters. _Damn it Roy, I hope I get there in time! _

* * *

Maes Hughes sighed heavily as he walked through the corridors of headquarters. He couldn't believe his bad luck! After his conversation with Roy he had returned to his office, only to receiver a telephone call from the higher ups demanding that he submit an investigations report on the failed attack upon the Fullmetal alchemist. Now he was running terribly late and probably wouldn't be home in time to put his beloved daughter to bed.

"Why that couldn't have waited until morning I'll never know." He grumbled to himself as he made his way towards the exit. However, he stopped as something odd caught his eye.

"Roy?" he called as he walked into his friend's office. For sitting at his desk with his head resting on his hands was the flame alchemist. He didn't bother to even glance up as his friend approached.

"I thought you had gone home." Roy muttered. Hughes stared at him. He couldn't remember he had last seen Roy so disillusioned.

"Roy, what the hell's happened." Roy sighed, still not raising his head.

"I fucked up big time Maes." He stated soberly. "She's gone. I've lost her." There was silence in the room for a moment.

"I didn't even mean what I said." Roy continued. "I love her, I didn't want her to go. But I guess that's what I get. It's just a fact that someone like me never deserved..." He was cut short as Maes slammed his fist into his face. Roy banged his head against his desk, having been knocked down with the unexpected blow. However, before he could do or say anything further, Maes grabbed him by the collar and dragged him up to meet his gaze.

"Damn it Roy, stop drowning in self pity!" He cried, his voice echoing through the empty room, "If you love her like you say, then do something about it! Find her, talk to her, apologise, whatever, just don't sit in the dark! What good is that going to do either of you!" The two stared at each other for a second, both in shock at what Hughes had just done. Slowly, Maes lowered his friend back down to his chair, and turned away.

"Sorry." He mumbled sheepishly, "I overreacted, I shouldn't have..."

"No. No, Maes you were right." Roy stated. He turned his eyes up to his best friend and smiled. Hughes smiled widely in return. Suddenly an idea popped into his mind.

"You know Roy, nothing says I love you like a diamond engagement ring." He teased. Roy smirked and stood, grabbing the velvet box from his desk.

"You know Maes, for once; I think you might be right."

* * *

Edward was pacing back and forwards in the alleyway, muttering under his breath with every step. Al watched silently, knowing that it was best for his brother to get through his musings before interrupting him. Winry sighed and leaned against the wall. She glanced around nervously. Although she had put on a brave face in front of the brothers, in actual fact she was rather against the idea of coming back to the place where Ed was attacked. Also, it was starting to get dark, the shadows extending eerily in the half light. Winry gulped as her imagination started to run wild. This was not the time for such thoughts.

"Damn, there's nothing here. I was sure I could find something about this guy if I came back." Ed muttered, kicking the ground maliciously as he spoke. Al walked over to him.

"It's alright brother, I'm sure something will turn up soon." He stated encouragingly. Edward glanced up at his brother and managed a small smile.

"Yeah, you're probably right Al." He stated. Edward turned and smiled at Winry.

"You ready to go?" He asked. Winry smiled in return as the two caught up with her. They all turned and made their way back towards the high street. Just as they were about to turn out of the alley, a dark shape blocked their way. Edward stopped abruptly, moving to stand in front of Winry.

"Well, not exactly what I wanted. I was making my way towards headquarters to find that bastard Mustang. But I suppose the young alchemist will do just nicely." Hissed the figure as it advanced towards them.

**A/N: Please review. **


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: thank you to all my wonderful reviewers, supporters and readers! I hope you all enjoy the chapter. **

**Chapter 14**

Edward slammed his hands together, his automail arm becoming a blade in a flash of blue light. Alphonse moved to stand beside him, fists raised in anticipation.

"Winry" Ed hissed out of the corner of his mouth, "I need you to run."

"What?" The blonde teen gasped, her eyes fixated upon the figure advancing towards them.

"Go to headquarters, it's not far. Find anyone, someone. Run now, before he sees you." Winry took a shaky step backwards. While she knew she was going to be of little help to them here, she really didn't want to leave them to face this alone.

"Winry, please." Al's small voice tugged at her heart strings. With one final glance at her friends, she turned on her heel and ran down the alley. Ed's familiar yell filled her ears as she hurtled through the streets. Tears sprung to her eyes as she made her way as fast as she could towards the military headquarters.

"Please be safe." She whispered to herself, her voice lost in the evening wind.

* * *

"Riza, would you slow down!" Riza heard the voice, but refused to pay any attention to it. Her mind was fixed on reaching Roy before Greg could. If he was really as violent as Roxanne and Marguerite stated, he would be needing her protection. _Damn it, if only I was with him now! _She thought to herself as she continued to run. At least that way she would know without a doubt that he was safe. Her face drained as she realised there were two sets of feet running after her.

"You two need to leave now!" she called over her shoulder, keeping her pace the same.

"What! Hell no!" Riza wanted to scream at Marguerite's stubborn nature. This was not situation that civilians should be involved in.

"You could get hurt, I can't let you!" Riza replied, pulling her gun out as she spoke. Headquarters' white walls loomed up ahead as she spoke. Turing abruptly down an alley, Riza swiftly flew through a well known short cut, partly to get there faster, and partly to prevent her friends from following her trail. Her trained eyes assessed each shadow and corner as she continued to race through the streets. Yet nothing caught her eye. _He can't already be at headquarters can he? _She thought to herself. It was then that a crash echoed loudly in her ears. Spinning on her heels, Riza gripped her gun tighter as she silently made her way towards the sound.

* * *

"So how are you going to do it Roy? In a restaurant? Under the stars? Oooh, so Romantic!" Roy grimaced as Hughes started hopping up and down in excitement. He was almost expecting a pair of white floppy ears to sprout from his head any second. It would have completely his mannerisms perfectly.

"Maes, would you please calm down." He murmured, glancing nervously from side to side to make sure that no one was staring at them.

"How can you ask me to calm down Roy? My best friend is finally going to marry the woman of his dreams. And more importantly, it is all because of me!" Roy glared at him.

"Maes, how is any of this because of you?" He asked, feeling slightly put out. Hughes regarded him strangely.

"Who was it who got the two of you together in the first place? Who was it that found the loop whole in the fraternisation law? Who was it who told you to propose? Who was it who helped you find the perfect ring?" Roy sighed in defeat.

"You Maes." He grumbled, unwilling to give his best friend all the credit for something that he really did feel was something that he should be proud of. Maes grinned happily.

"Exactly! Finally my mission is complete!" He cried, punching he air in triumph.

"Mission? Maes, what the hell do you mean by mission?" Roy yelled in reply. However, before Hughes could say anything further, a voice interrupted them.

"Mr Hughes, Colonel Mustang!" Both men turned to see a familiar blonde girl careering towards them. Hughes frowned.

"Miss Rockbell, what's the matter?" he asked her distressed state obvious even from a distance. Winry skidded to a halt before them, breathing heavily. She turned her face towards Maes, tears making watery tracks down her cheeks.

"Ed and Al are being attacked! I think it's the same guy from last time. He said he was on his way to find you Colonel." She cried, sobs cutting off her sentence. Hughes and Mustang exchanged a look before Maes was by her side.

"It's alright Winry. Now, we need you to take us too them. Can you do that?" he asked, his voice gentle but urgent. Winry sniffed and rubbed her eyes of stray tears before gazing back at the two of them. Her face was now firm and determined. She nodded once then turned and began running in the direction she had come from. Without a word, Maes and Roy followed.

* * *

"AL!" Edwards scream ricocheted through the alley, only to be cut off as his brother was slammed into the wall. The guy was strong and remarkable quick despite his size. The cramped conditions made it difficult to perform alchemy, making this fight far more tricky than the Fullmetal alchemist had anticipated. With a roar of fury, Ed rushed at the guy, swinging his blade rapidly. He jumped out of the way of the man's fist and skidded to a stop on the other side of the alley. The thick set man turned and snarled in Ed's direction, a large cut on his forehead bleeding profusely. Ed grinned. While the cut was mostly superficial, head wounds always bled heavily. This meant he would soon feel the effects of blood loss, not to mention how it would obscure his vision. He odds were now slightly in his favour. The man launched himself at Edward, catching him off guard. Ed nimbly dodged, but it was a close call.

"You are exceptionally annoying young alchemist. I can't wait to crush you and...AHHH!" Ed's eyes widened as two shots flew out of nowhere. The man fell to his knees in pain as the bullets imbedded themselves in his lower leg. As he fell to the ground, Ed saw the silhouette of a familiar soldier at the other end of the alley. Riza Hawkeye raised her eyes to his.

"You alright, Edward?" she questioned. He nodded, still slightly shocked at her appearance. The man turned, his face twisted in agony as he gazed at Riza.

"You." He hissed, his teeth clenched in pain, "I'll kill you."

"I don't think so somehow." Despite Ed's relief, he couldn't help but groan at the familiar voice. Of all the people Winry could of run into, why oh why did it have to be that bastard? He was going to be reminded of this for years to come. Roy walked to where Ed was standing and smirked over at his First Lieutenant.

"Nice work Hawkeye." He stated proudly. Riza simply nodded her gun and her eyes still trained on the man struggling in vain to get to his feet. Roy glared at him.

"Don't pretend that you're able to stand. It's over." He stated harshly. As if they had heard his words, the unmistakable sound of military boots was heard. Hawkeye moved out of the way to allow the officers through.

"See, I always knew you were a weird one. Perverted freak." Riza turned and glared at Marguerite who was glaring daggers at Greg as he was arrested and hauled towards a dark van. Roxy moved to join her friend.

"Good work Rizzy." She stated proudly. Hughes turned and stared at the two for a minute

"Rizzy?" he questioned. Roy frowned at the two women.

"This is a military crime scene, not a place for civilians." He stated. Roxanne raised her eyebrows.

"If it wasn't for us, you would have been scraping that little guy of the floor. No offense sweetie." She stated smiling gloriously at Ed. Edward was far too dazzled by the attention that Roxy gave him to care about the little guy comment. Winry frowned at Edwards conduct, causing Al to shy away from her slightly in fear.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye?" Riza turned to see an officer addressing her. "We are going to need a statement. Will you be able to meet us at Headquarters?" Riza nodded and the man saluted once before taking his leave. Marguerite grinned and skipped over to Riza, throwing an arm around her shoulders.

"Well, look like _some people _owe Riza a thank you." She stated, her gaze automatically skipping to Roy. Roy blanched slightly at the intensity of the woman's glare. He cleared his throat.

"Yes, of course. That was an excellent job Lieutenant. In fact, I think I need to thank you...personally." he implored, his eyes begging her to understand that he wished to speak to her alone. Riza on the other hand simply saluted.

"Thank you for your praise Sir, but that is not necessary. Now, if you will excuse me, I am needed at Headquarters." And with that she turned and walked away. Roy stared after her, his posture slumping in defeat.

"Damn... it's gonna take one hell of an apology to get her good books again." Roxy stated. Maes grinned at the dark haired woman.

"Like a diamond ring." He teased, to Roy's absolute horror. The two girl's mouth's fell open in shock. Suddenly they both turned and screamed at each other, their eyes a light in excitement.

"Are you serious? You're going to propose!" Roxy cried. Hughes nodded enthusiastically.

"He sure is!" he replied, almost as if this was his engagement they were discussing.

"Oh a wedding, I love weddings!" Cried Marguerite.

"She's gonna say no." Edward stated bluntly. Hughes, Marguerite and Roxanne turned to reprimand him, but they needn't have bothered. Winry had already smacked him hard enough to have him seeing stars.

* * *

Riza meandered back to headquarters' slowly. Her thoughts were in turmoil. What had Roy meant when he had asked to speak to her privately? He didn't want her anymore, so why would he need to speak to her. He probably just wanted her to take the things she had left at his apartment back. As she turned the corner, she noticed something golden in her peripheral vision. She halted and turned slowly. All at once, something was clamped over her mouth. She struggled, fighting against the grip, but she found her body getting weaker. She clawed at the hand as her vision started to fade and her mind wished for slumber. However, before she allowed the darkness to envelop her, the hand left her mouth and she was lowered onto the floor. She gasped as familiar features swum into view.

"You..." she whispered, her eyes fluttering shut.

"Yes, me" hissed a malicious voice as the shadows suffocated her senses.

**A/N: please review. **


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Thank you to all my reviewers! I love you all! I am desperately trying to finish this before my semester starts again. I hope I manage! Hope you all enjoy the chapter. **

**Chapter 15**

"I know I know it. Damn it, this is gonna bug me all night..." Roy closed his eyes and once more attempted to curb the anger that was flowing through his veins. Was everyone trying to annoy him this evening? Hughes, sensing his friend's agitation, turned around.

"What are you trying to remember?" He asked Marguerite.

"She recons she knows a woman we met this evening from somewhere." Roxy replied in a bored tone. She was obviously getting tired of her friend's constant mutterings. Marguerite glared at her.

"But I know her! And I know it's annoying you as well!!" Roxy turned and glared back at her friend.

"Yes, but I'm thinking about it _silently..."_

"Enough!" Roy cried, startling both women. He had had enough. After everything that had come to pass this evening, his patience was wearing thin. There was only one woman he wanted, needed to speak to tonight, and she was neither of these women.

"Look, why don't you two go home. It's late." Hughes stated, jumping into the conversation before Roy could say something that he would regret later.

"Hey, we are not like those kids, you can't just send us home." Marguerite exclaimed, folding her arms over her chest.

"No, but you aren't military personnel, so you have no reason to be here." Roy replied before stalking towards his office.

"But we are witnesses to a crime, don't you want our statements?" Roxanne replied sweetly. Roy cursed. She had him there.

"Fine." He stated through gritted teeth before walking through the door of his office, Maes and the women following swiftly. Hughes immediately walked over to the phone.

"I'll see how they are doing with interrogations." He called. Roy nodded as his friend began dialling and then turned back to Roxanne and Marguerite. Both were staring around his office, as if processing all they saw. He cleared his throat in an attempt to catch their attention.

"Well... this is... spacious." Roxy concluded lamely. Roy sighed heavily.

"It's an office, not a designer suit." He replied scathingly. Both women glared at him in reply. He smirked at them.

"You know, I really don't know what she sees in you." Marguerite huffed before walking away to investigate the office further. Roy's face fell at her statement. Roxy caught his reaction and sighed.

"That was low, even for her. Come on then, take my statement already." Roxy stated brusquely, in an attempt to divert his attention. While Roy had seriously aggravated her this evening, she could tell that he was hurting deeply over the situation with Riza. She didn't want to push him too far. Roy agreed and headed over to grab a pen and paper, just as Hughes finished on the phone.

"They are nearly done, but they asked us to stick around for a while. They want to ask us a few questions. They also wanted to speak to Edward, but I told them to postpone it until tomorrow." Roy nodded.

"Alright, how long are they going to be?" Hughes shrugged.

"I doubt more than twenty minutes, they seemed to be finishing up." Roy sighed. Twenty minutes seemed far too long to him. He really needed to speak to Riza, each moment that he left it, the worse the situation was going to be.

"It's not that long Roy, stop panicking." Hughes stated gently.

"Yeah, don't worry. You'll be able to talk to her soon." Mustang looked up, surprised the Roxanne had attempted to comfort him. She narrowed her eyes in return.

"Don't get any ideas, I'm not exactly impressed with you mister. I thinking of Riza." She clarified. Roy smirked slightly at the statement as Roxy grinned back at him.

"Spending your time with little whores now, you pretty little bitch? Tut, tut what will he say? But then again, you're not telling him about crawling around in the dirt with that filth are you? Don't worry my dear Lieutenant, all that will soon change when I get what I want." Everyone's head snapped round to where Marguerite was standing, reading a small blue rimmed card. She turned and met their gazes.

"What the hell?" She cried a slight note of fear in voice. Hughes and Roy were at her side in an instant.

"Where did you find this?" Roy asked, his mind reeling at the words on the card.

"It was on the floor by the bin." Marguerite replied. Maes plucked the card out of his hands and inspected it closely.

"It looks like a greeting card, one you get on flowers." He stated, a puzzled look forming on his features.

"Flowers?" Roy questioned. _Damn it! _He cursed himself repeatedly. How could he have been so stupid?

"Roy?" Maes asked.

"Riza's been receiving flowers for a while now. She swore she didn't know who they came from." He could feel the panic rising in his voice.

"Roy, calm down." Maes stated firmly, "Riza left to give a statement before we did, she's fine." He affirmed calmly. Roy felt his fear leave him slightly. Yes, Maes was right. There was nothing to worry about.

"Are you sure it was addressed to Riza?" Marguerite asked worriedly.

"Well, it does fit. Especially seeing as she just met you two... no offense, of course." Roy added hastily. Marguerite sighed.

"Whore?" hissed a voice from behind them all. The three turned to see Roxanne stalking towards them, her face contorted in fury.

"When I find whoever sent this, I'm going to rip them limb from limb." She cried venomously, "Nobody calls me a whore and gets away with it!" Roy and Maes backed away hastily, slightly alarmed by Roxy's sudden change in character.

"Roxy, calm." Marguerite stated sternly before turning back and addressing the two soldiers.

"So do you think it was Greg who did this?" Hughes frowned.

"Sort of makes sense I guess, as Winry did say it was Roy he was after. But nothing like this was ever found in any of the other cases."

"Besides, this seems more like someone trying to get Riza rather than myself." Roy added, his fists clenching as he spoke. How dare anyone try and threaten his Lieutenant. He turned to Hughes.

"Are you sure there was nothing like this in any of the other cases? Nothing about white roses?"

"Wait...white roses?" Marguerite asked. Roy moved his attention back to her.

"Yes, those were the flowers." He replied, not entirely sure why this mattered. Marguerites eyes widened and she turned to Roxy.

"It couldn't be." Roxy stated sceptically.

"It's far fetched but..." suddenly she stopped, realisation dawning in her eyes. She whipped around and stared at Roy.

"I think we have a problem." She said.

* * *

Her head was pounding. Riza groggily opened her eyes, attempting to block out the pain. It was a struggle. Her body was heavily, her limbs feeling as if they had been filled with lead. The darkness that had previously smothered her was so tempting; she could feel herself wishing to sink back into it once more.

"You're awake? Damn, I thought I'd drugged you enough. Ah well, it doesn't really matter." Riza concentrated on the familiar voice, dragging her aching mind back to reality.

"J...Jessica." she whispered, her voice cracking as she spoke her name. Jessica turned around, smiling ever so slightly.

"Not for much longer." She replied, pulling a blonde wig over her red hair. She bent down and pulled a coat over her shoulders. Riza squinted, knowing she knew the jacket. A flash of gold caught her eyes and realisation hit her. It was a military jacket. Jessica saw her eyes studying the stars on the lapel and laughed.

"In a couple of hours I will be First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye." She stated gleefully. Riza senses were coming back to her slowly. She attempted to move her arms, but only succeeded in flopping her hand over. Jessica sighed and turned back to the mirror.

"You shouldn't try and move. It's not going to help." Riza ignored the warning, focusing on moving her legs. Unlike her arms, there was almost no reaction there. _Concentrate _Riza thought to herself as she willed with all her might to make her muscles move.

"Seriously, what the hell is your deal, I told you not to move!" Jessica yelled suddenly, marching over and throwing a swift kick into Riza's rib cage. Hawkeye doubled over slightly, but her face remained impassive. She would not let this woman have the satisfaction of seeing her in pain.

"This is why you don't deserve your life." Jessica hissed. Riza turned up to face her.

"What?" she replied breathlessly. Jessica smiled maliciously down at her. She bent her legs and slowly lowered herself to Riza's height, in what Riza guesses was meant to be an intimidating manner.

"You have no idea how perfect you are." Jessica mumbled, twisting a few strands of Riza's hair in her fingers. Riza shuddered slightly at the intimate touch. It was far more threatening than the physical pain she had received before.

"You are beautiful, but strong. Blonde but smart. So perfect, just like a white rose, so innocent and untouchable. At least that's what I used to think." With that, she yanked on the strands of hair, ripping them from Riza's scalp. Riza winced, her eyes filling with tears at the pain, but there was no time to dwell on it. Jessica grabbed her chin and wrenched her face up to meet her eyes. Riza was shocked at the fury she saw there.

"I idolised you! I thought you were infallible, the amazing sniper Riza Hawkeye! Then I saw you there, at the _sugar bowl_. Then I realised, you are no better than me. You spend your time with whores just like I do. You let that piece of shit Mustang touch you, just like I let all those shits touch me. We are the same, but I'm going to change all that. We are above all of this, above all of them!" caught up in her rage, Jessica slammed Riza's head against the floor. Riza groaned, her vision slipping once again as she felt the blood run down her face. She forced herself to concentrate on Jessica's voice, one of the few things that would force her to stay conscious.

"You can do so much better than him, so much better than this life! I always knew it, I knew we were meant for more, but it was only recently I could see what I should do about it. I mean, watching you waste your life was terrible, so I had to step in."

"You sent me the flowers." Riza whispered her voice far fainter than she would have liked it to be. She needed to keep Jessica talking, just long enough to distract her.

"Glad you finally worked it out. Who else would know your work address, your home address and be a person that your little mutt trusted. Well, I doubt he would trust me now." Riza felt anger course through her veins as realisation hit her.

"Hayate was never sick. You poisoned him." she hissed. Jessica laughed.

"Well I had to get rid of the flea bag somehow. Damn Adrian, sticking his nose in and calling you. But I taught him a lesson." She laughed, her eyes flashing brightly. Riza shuddered as she thought of what could have happened to Adrian. However, before she could retort in any way, Jessica began speaking.

"Oh, and while we are on the subject, I really don't think you should move. It's only going to make things work faster, and I'm actually having a lot of fun right now." Riza clenched her teeth together at the woman's words. She had a feeling she had been drugged, but she wasn't sure if it had just been to sedate her. It seemed like this was not the case. A faint crash echoed from somewhere outside of the room, causing Jessica to turn.

"How the fuck!" She yelled in frustration. She turned and grabbed a chair, jamming it up against the door.

"Damn that murdering bastard, how did he find me?" she hissed, panic gliding through her voice. Riza couldn't help but allow herself a triumphant smile. _Roy. _Jessica noticed her smile and her face switched from panic to malice within a second.

"Don't you dare get complacent you dirty slut! You're life is mine! You don't exist. Who is going to mourn the corpse of a nobody!" she screamed in rage, stalking over to Riza. Riza shuffled her weight backwards; putting as much distance s she could between her and Jessica. But it was in vain. Jessica loomed over head, madness gleaming in her eyes.

"You life is mine. I'm going to have it." Jessica whispered as her hands enclosed over Riza's throat. Riza's weakened hands scrapped over Jessica's arms, drawing bloody trails. Jessica screamed in rage, her hands only tightening over Riza's airway. Riza fought for consciousness, but the drugs made it virtually impossible. Her vision was going foggy once again as unconsciousness threatened to take over her senses. But this time, Riza knew she was dying. There was no pain, no fear. Everything was just slowly fading out. She couldn't even feel Jessica's hands squeezing her life out of her anymore. She was simply floating, falling downwards to whatever lay ahead. She guessed that just before you die you can have glimpse of whatever you want, as for a moment, she believed she saw Roy. He was talking to her, holding her, telling her he loved her, just as he used to. She smiled to herself, knowing that death was about to take her. If this was the last thing she was allowed to see she would die happy.

"I love you Roy." She mumbled to herself, not even sure if her voice was even real. It needed to be said. Then, with one last breath, she felt everything fade away for her for the last time.

**A/N: As always, please drop me a review with your thoughts. **

**Oh, and congrats to MoonStarDutchess, who is the only person that I know of who guessed where this was heading! **


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Where has the summer gone? I bring you this chapter while stuffing books in boxes ready for my journey back to uni. I swear I spend half my life packing. **

**Thank you so much for all the reviews! **

* * *

**Chapter 16**

Death was not what she had expected. For a while there had been nothing and she had floated effortlessly within the nothingness. It was pleasant. It was as if she was free, unable to make her mind worry or function in anyway. There was just a blank existence where everything was hazy and unfocused. Then it all changed. Everything became slowly sharper, more prominent. There was a light, a harsh damaging light that burnt through her eye sockets and flooded her aching bones. That was what was so strange about dying. Nowhere had it ever been said that it hurt. Wasn't all the hurt, the pain, the worry supposed to disappear? She had no dissolutions of a paradise of eternal glory. Her past dictated that she had no business being there. But this constant ache in her head and limbs was slightly disconcerting. However the headache could possibly be contributed to this incessant humming that seemed to be in the background.

"... Five days..." the humming as becoming sharper, just as everything else. Voices? What were voices doing here? At first she thought she was mistaken, but the haze was slowly lifting, allowing her to distinguish a few words. Why were there people talking in death? Were they angels?

"Riza...RIZA!!" No not angels. Angels do not shriek. There was a prickling sensation behind her eyes now, one that she hadn't noticed before. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, her body knew how to solve it, even though her mind had not really caught up yet. So slowly and carefully, she opened her eyes. The haze was gone in almost an instant, forcing her to blink rapidly. White walls met her gaze, matching perfectly with the white bed linen that seemed to be covering her. This was strangely familiar. Suddenly, as if someone had switched on a bright light, everything clicked into place.

She wasn't dead. She was in hospital.

Riza's hooded eyes took in the state of everything in a moment. It was day, the light shining in through the curtains, dazzlingly bright in the pale coloured room. She was hooked up to a machine that was monitoring her steady heart beat. That seemed to be in her favour. Riza twisted her head to the side, ignoring the agonising ache that the movement caused. In the corner of the room was a figure, slumped over in a chair, looking completely dead to the world.

_Roy. _He was here, with her. In the hospital. That didn't make any sense. As far as she remembered, he didn't care for her anymore. So why was he here?

"Riza!" Before she even had a chance to brace herself in order to perform the agonising task of moving her neck, a familiar face moved into view.

"Hey sweetie, how are you feeling?" Roxy asked, her eyes alight with concern. Riza stared back for a moment. The question had completely flawed her. How was she feeling? It was a simple question, but there was no answer to it. Everything hurt, her muscles, her head, even her eyes. She was 

confused. One minute she had been sure with every fibre of her being that she was dead, the next she was in a hospital room and very much alive. Roy was with her, even though he didn't love her, yet she still loved him more than anything. That agony was even worse than the physical pain. She also wasn't exactly sure of the events leading up to her hospitalisation. Vague images of a locked, dark room came to mind, intermingled with an alley way. Everything was jumbled, out of order and wasn't making any sense. Yet Roxy was still waiting for an answer. Riza didn't know what to say. So she said that first thing that came to mind.

"Ouch." She whispered.

* * *

"So, are you going to explain now?" Riza asked her companions. Roxy, Marguerite, Havoc and Maes exchanged a glance.

"I'll go." Roxy stated. Riza continued to wait patiently until her friend began speaking.

"I assume you know that it was that freak Jessica who kidnapped you?" she asked. Riza nodded, her memories of the incident slowly making their way to the surface of her mind. She pushed them back in order to concentrate of the explanation.

"Well, Marguerite and I told you that we knew her, and we were right. She called herself Crystal; she was one of the girls we worked with." Riza frowned suddenly, a memory suddenly coming back to light.

"I remember her." She muttered. Roxy nodded.

"Yup, the blonde girl who ran into you in the dressing room. She was always strange. She insisted on wearing a blonde wig and blue outfit constantly, and barely spoke to the rest of us. She was always muttering to herself, commenting on how her appearance wasn't exactly perfect. We just assumed she was self absorbed. Turns out it was something different..." Roxy trailed off and Hughes jumped in.

"We searched her apartment after we apprehended her. She was obsessed with you, Hawkeye. She had photographs of you, diaries that followed your every move, a list of addresses of your close friends and relatives. She was even practicing your signature. She fully intended to become you in every way." Riza shuddered at the news. It was exceptionally creepy to think that someone she had trusted had been secretly documenting every step of her life. She felt violated; sickened by the idea that someone would have gone to such lengths to become her. But another thought also dominated her mind. Why would anyone want to be her? She turned her attention back to Roxy, who was speaking again.

"Crystal... Jessica... whatever, she always had a delivery of white roses sent to her dressing room. We always thought she must have had a rich admirer, as they are rather expensive. But after Roy mentioned that you had been receiving mysterious flowers, we put two and two together." Havoc then decided to speak.

"Luckily Jessica was no criminal mastermind. She took you to the kennels, which was one of the first places that we searched for you. She seemed to have been pushed over the edge for some reason, as she was frantic and hadn't planned it through." Riza looked up.

"What did she do to me?" She asked.

"She used chloroform to knock you out and then injected you with animal tranquilizers. She didn't give you a high enough dosage to kill you, but it impaired your movement enough so that you were almost helpless." Riza nodded, remembering all too well how difficult it had been to move.

"Where is Jessica now?" she asked.

"She just got discharged from the hospital and is now awaiting try for murder, kidnapping and attempted murder. We guess she's going to plea insanity, but either way, she's not going to be around the general public for a long time." Hughes assured her. Part of that sentence caused Riza's face to pale.

"Murder?" she questioned. Hughes's eyes softened.

"Adrian Childs was found stabbed to death after we found you. She's already confessed to the murder." Riza closed her eyes as pain flooded through her. Adrian. Another life that was on her hands. She cursed herself for not realising the threat that Jessica had posed to them all. She had put her fellow officers in danger due to her miss calculations. She couldn't believe how stupid she had been.

"Don't worry Rizzy; I smacked her up good for ya." Roxy stated cheerfully. Riza's eyes snapped up to her friend, her horror obvious in her face.

"You were there?" she cried. Roxy nodded, slightly taken aback by the intensity of Riza's stare.

"What possessed you to do that? You shouldn't have put yourself in so much danger!" Riza couldn't believe how stupid Roxanne had been. Roxy stared down at her indignantly.

"She called me a WHORE!" Roxy exclaimed loudly, causing Marguerite to shush her, sending a concerned glance towards the corner. Riza followed her stare to see that Roy was still slumped in his chair in a blissful slumber. It was unnatural. She frowned.

"What have you done to him?" She asked Maes. Hughes grinned.

"Just gave him a drink that's all. Don't worry about it Hawkeye. He's barely slept in five days; he was starting to look like a zombie. He'll be up in a few minutes." He assured her. As if hearing the words, Roy stirred and muttered something, before turning over. Riza sighed once before nodding at Hughes. Although she hardly approved of him slipping things into Roy's drink, it was obvious that he needed sleep.

"Well, I need to be getting back to work. Good to see you awake Hawkeye." Hughes stated with a wave. Havoc stood as well.

"I need to get back too. Get well soon, alright? Or we're never gonna get any work done." He stated cheerfully. Riza grinned at him.

"That office had better be in perfect shape when I get back to work, Havoc." She warned. Havoc saluted.

"Yes Ma'am." He replied before turning on his heel and leaving the room. Riza sighed and leaned back on her pillows. She was so tired.

"We'll leave you to rest." Marguerite stated, leaning in and hugging Riza tightly. She moved away and Roxy leaned in for a hug. As she did so, she whispered to her

"I know you think he doesn't love you, but I'll tell you this. He's not left your side since we found you. Do you really think that someone who doesn't care would do that?" She drew away and winked at Riza before turning and leaving the room. Riza sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, running Roxanne's words through her mind. There were many reasons why Roy could be there. Simply caring for his subordinate? Possibly because he knew she didn't have anyone else? Because he cared for, but didn't love her in the same way he once had done?

"Riza?" she turned her aching neck and her eyes met his onyx gaze. He smiled and made his way over to her bedside, automatically taking her hand in his. She smiled, revelling in his touch. She wasn't sure how long it was going to last.

"How are you?" he whispered, his other hand stroking the hair out of her eyes. She smiled and the sweet gesture.

"Tired and sore. But I'll be alright." She reassured him. He nodded, his eyes searching her for any evidence that what she said was false. Finding none, he managed a smile in return.

"I don't think you're going to have to be in here for much longer. Although you are going to have to take it easy for a while." He stated gentle. Riza grimaced. She didn't do taking things easy. She had a job and responsibilities that could not be performed if she simply stayed at home and put her feet up. Roy chuckled lightly.

"I can practically see you thinking of an argument in your head Riza, but this time it's not going to work. You need looking after for a while." Her eyes widened at his choice of words. What was he talking about? Roy gazed down at the hand he was holding for a moment, before looking up at her.

"I want to take care of you. If you want me to." His voice was almost inaudible as he uttered the sentence. Riza felt her heart soar at his words. She smiled.

"I would like that. But it's only while I get my strength back. Don't get any ideas." She stated sternly. Roy laughed and bent his head, leaving a chaste kiss on her lips.

"I wouldn't dream of it my love." He replied. Riza smiled at the familiar endearment, but it soon turned into a yawn.

"Sleep now Riza." Roy whispered, getting up and moving towards the chair once more.

"Where do you think you're going?" Riza muttered s she closed her eyes, exhaustion clouding her vision. The last thing she remembered as she succumbed to slumber was the feel of Roy's arms around her, just as they were meant to be.

* * *

**A/N: Last chapter should hopefully be up within the next few days. That is if I don't fall down the stairs carrying boxes. **

**Please review. **


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Oh god...it's over. I cannot believe it! "The inspection" was my first ever fanfic and its going to feel so so strange to close of the sequel. **

**Thank you to everyone who has supported this fiction! It has been such a joy to write, and I hope you have all enjoyed reading it. Please enjoy the final chapter! **

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**Chapter 17**

"Roy, this is ridiculous, I can walk!" Riza hissed, causing her commanding officer to grin happily.

"Let me out." Riza commanded as they made their way towards the exit. Roy shook his head, the grin still firmly in place.

"Not until we get to the car. Riza, the doctor said you should relax as much as possible, which means you are going to stay in the wheel chair until we get to the car." Riza growled slightly, but ceased in her protests. Roy was enjoying this far too much. But in truth, she was still exceptionally weak. She wasn't even sure if she could have made it out of the hospital without collapsing. That would have been far more embarrassing than her current situation.

Riza's recovery had gone well. So well in fact that she was able to leave the hospital only a week after the incident with Jessica. Of course, the doctor had recommended that she stay a little longer, but she was adamant in her refusal. So grudgingly she had been released, only after having promised that she would take it easy for the mean time and not return to her military duties for a further week. Both factors Roy had jumped upon instantly. Her leave of absence, to her shock, was perfectly documented within a few hours. He had also insisted that she convalesce at his apartment, something she wasn't going to argue with. Over the past week, he had barely left her side, and the few times that he had it took all of Maes' skills to remove him. While his constant presence would have normally frustrated her no end, it was different now. It was almost as if something had clicked in her mind. She needed him. Although it had only been for a short time, she had lost him, and realised the ache that had been left there. She would be damned if she would try to push him away once more. There was also another reason. Occasionally, flashes of the attack would come back to her, especially at night. She knew it wouldn't last forever, that it was simply something that was due to the aftermath of the incident. But having Roy sleep with his arms around her stopped the brunt of it from affecting her. However, in the back of her mind, she was still worried. Although everything had returned to what it had been like before the argument, they still had not spoken about that night.

"Riza?" Riza looked over at Roy as he drove towards his apartment. She smiled slightly at the concerned look on his face.

"I'm fine." She reassured him. Roy frowned and reached over, taking her hand in his. Riza squeezed it back, but quickly dropped it, causing him to smile. He had long ago learnt that Riza took driving exceptionally seriously. He was to have his full attention on the road at all times when she was in the car.

"Roy?" Mustang turned his attention to his live, who was currently staring out of the window. He frowned. Riza almost always made eye contact when speaking to someone. Anxiety tugged at his heart as he responded.

"Yes Riza?" Riza inhaled deeply before speaking.

"I think we need to talk when we get back." She whispered, closing her eyes slightly as she did so. There was silence for a moment.

"Yes, I believe we do." Roy's voice was a quiet as her own as he spoke the words. They continued the short journey in silence, each absorbed in their own thoughts.

* * *

Riza didn't protest as Roy lifted her from the car and carried her bridal style into the house. Although the morning was barely over, she felt exhausted. The stress of the release forms and getting out of the hospital had left her feeling incredibly fatigued. As soon as they were in the apartment, Roy walked straight into the bedroom and lowered her gently onto the bed. He stared at her for a moment before kissing her softly on her head. Riza smiled at the sweet gesture.

"You hungry?" Roy asked, playing with a strand of her hair. Riza shook her head.

"No. Roy, can we talk?" Roy froze, fear shining brightly in his eyes. However he nodded slowly before moving on to the bed next to her. He carefully removed his hands from her hair, causing Riza to frown slightly at the loss of contact. Silence fell over them once more as each collected their thoughts.

"I'm sorry." Roy turned his head and stared at Riza in shock. Riza kept her eyes glued to the ceiling as she continued her apology.

"I shouldn't have accused you of cheating. I know you wouldn't do that to me. I was angry, I didn't mean it. I know that doesn't make it better, but it's the only thing I can say." Roy raised himself on his elbows and moved over to her.

"I should be apologising Riza." He whispered, reaching out and tracing the outline of her face as he spoke.

"I was over stepping my boundaries. I know that you don't like to be coddled." Riza smiled at him, before reaching up and knotting her fingers in his hair. Roy smirked and leaned down, kissing her lovingly. He pulled away and moved to the side, draping an arm across her.

"I guess we both said things we didn't mean." He said. Riza smiled.

"Yes. We are far too similar." Roy laughed, but it was cut short as a thought flew to mind.

"Why didn't you tell me about the messages in the flowers?" He asked seriously. Riza hesitated before answering.

"I thought they were threats to you. With everything that was going on, the last thing that you needed was the stress of that on your mind." Roy stared at her in horror. How could she have put her own safety on the line for his sake?

"Riza, why did you think they were threatening me?" He wondered aloud.

"It made more sense than someone threatening me. Well, in my mind it did." Roy sighed heavily before burying his head in the crook of her neck.

"Riza, I wish you would have told me." He whispered.

"I'm sorry." Roy looked up, leaned in and met her lips in a kiss.

"It's alright love, as long as you're okay. But you need to trust me more. You need to let me in." Riza nodded.

"I know that. It's just...difficult. No one's ever been as close to me as you are now. It's an adjustment. One that I am more than willing to make. It will just take time." Roy smiled widely.

"We have all the time in the world." He replied. Riza smiled, but it swiftly turned into a yawn. Roy chuckled and settled down on the bed, pulling Riza into his arms.

"Sleep now Riza."

"Mmm." She replied, snuggling closer in his embrace. She was feeling drained, both mentally and physically, but she needed to ask one more question before she allowed herself to slumber.

"Roy?"

"Yes?"

"What were you and Maes fighting about that night at the office?" Riza felt Roy's arms stiffen around her, and she immediately sat up straight. Roy groaned and sat up with her, avoiding her gaze.

"Roy?" she questioned worriedly. Roy sighed and slid off the bed. After a silence that felt endless, he raised his head and looked at her. She was amazed to find that he looked nervous

"This was not the way I wanted to do this, but it seems that traditional rules go out of the window where our relationship is concerned." Riza stared at him in confusion. What on earth was he talking about? Before she knew what was happening, Roy bent down on one knee before her. Riza curiously leaned over the side of the bed, looking for whatever it was that he was picking up from the floor. Oddly there was nothing there.

"Roy, what are you..." Her breath caught as she shifted her eyes towards her lover. A small velvet box was opened before her. A silver ring was enclosed within it, a square cut diamond placed upon the centre, twinkling in the sunlight. She forgot how to breathe.

"I should probably have prepared a speech, or at least say something incredibly romantic to you. But I think we both know I'll just ruin it. So I'll just say this. I love you, Riza Hawkeye, more than I 

ever believed it was possible to love someone. You love me for the idiot that I am and despite how badly I mess up you still stand by me. There is no one on this earth that I would rather spend the rest of my days with, no one else who I would want to make happy for the rest of her life. Riza, will you marry me?" Riza gulped, and dropped her eyes. Roy felt his heart drop at the gesture. It had been too soon; after all they had barely been in a relationship for six months. Marriage had seemed like a good idea, but maybe...

"Yes." Roy's head snapped up. Riza smiled at him, tears coursing down her face. She couldn't believe this was happening to her! Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that this wonderful man could ever want her as much as she wanted him. Roy picked up the ring and slowly slid it on to her finger. They both stared in awe at it for a second. Then Roy reached out, cupping Riza's face in his hands before leaning down and kissing her passionately.

"I love you." He whispered as they broke away.

"I love you too." Riza whispered back, the tears still falling. She couldn't believe she was crying so much! It was pathetic, but right now, she didn't care. Roy smiled and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back down on to the bed.

"Sleep now, Riza Mustang." He whispered. Riza laughed softly.

"You're jumping the gun there." She replied. Roy smirked and kissed the side of her neck.

"Maybe. But it's well over due." Riza smiled softly to herself as she allowed sleep to overtake her. Yes, she supposed, in a way, this was all well overdue.

_**The End.**_

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**A/N: So what did you think? Let me know with a final review! **

**For my royai fans, my newest fic "Serendipity" will be up shortly. I cannot wait to start working on my new pieces (I have two that will definitely be posted). I just need to balance everything around my uni work. Lol. **

**Once again, thank you for all the support. It means the world to me! Love to you all!**

**Silver Sniper of Night**


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